Airlines resume operations after IT failure
After worldwide computer failures, processing at Berlin Airport is running smoothly again. The situation is gradually improving at other airports as well. However, all consequences of this unprecedented disruption have not been resolved yet.
Following a catastrophic IT incident affecting flight companies, hospitals, and broadcasting stations worldwide, the situation is normalizing in many countries. Several airlines in the USA and Asia announced that they had resumed operations. A Berlin Airport spokesperson stated that "processing is running smoothly," as reported.
Thailand's national airport director, Keerati Kitmanawat, reported "no long queues at airports, as we experienced yesterday." In Australia, operations were mostly back to normal, although Sydney Airport was still reporting flight delays.
Check-in services were restored at airports in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Thailand. In India, Indonesia, and Singapore's Changi Airport, the processing was functioning normally from Saturday afternoon.
Continued Issues in the USA
According to a high-ranking US government representative, "flight operations have been resumed across the entire country, although there are still issues." The incident affected businesses worldwide that use Microsoft Windows, as reported by the US cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike. The cause was a faulty update from their antivirus program Falcon. The impact was significant: flight companies and airports worldwide experienced IT issues, resulting in canceled departures and landings in some cases. Hospitals had to reschedule surgeries, broadcasters could not transmit, and cash registers in supermarkets went down.
In Germany, Berlin Airport BER was particularly affected. Flights were halted at the capital airport temporarily. Several flights were rerouted or canceled, while others landed and took off delayed. A BER spokesperson stated on Saturday that "all our systems in handling are running interference-free and smoothly." Some passengers, however, could not yet use self-service check-ins due to the after-effects of the disruptions at the airlines.
The full extent of the disruption's impact is still unknown. Reports from the Netherlands and the UK suggest that healthcare services may have been affected. Media outlets faced challenges: the British news broadcaster Sky News announced that the disruption had ended their news broadcasts on Friday morning. The Australian broadcaster ABC reported significant difficulties.
Unprecedented Failure Should Enter History
Crowdstrike announced that they had found a solution to the problem. The company's CEO, George Kurtz, told CNBC that he wanted to "personally apologize to every organization, every group, and every individual affected." It could take several days for operations to return to normal.
According to cybersecurity expert Junade Ali from the British Engineering and Technology Alliance, the scale of the failure was "unprecedented." This incident "will undoubtedly go down in history," he added. He noted that a similarly devastating disruption had occurred in 2017.
In light of the resolved issues at Berlin Airport BER, strengthening its IT-Security measures becomes crucial to prevent future disruptions, thereby maintaining a smooth economy. The Berlin Brandenburg Airport - BER's spokesperson emphasized that their systems were running smoothly post the incident, setting an example for other airports to follow.
