Flights suspended at Berlin airport due to ‘technical problem’

(FILES) A Microsoft logo is pictured during the presentation of the Xbox One in Shanghai on July 30, 2014. A major outage wrought havoc on global computer systems on July 19, 2024, grounding flights in the United States, derailing television broadcasts in the UK and impacting telecommunications in Australia. (Photo by JOHANNES EISELE / AFP)

Flights were suspended at Berlin Brandenburg airport in Germany on Friday morning due to a “technical problem,” a spokeswoman told AFP as several countries reported massive IT disturbances.

“There are delays to check-in and flight operations had to be cancelled until 10 a.m. (0800 GMT),” the spokeswoman said, adding however that she could not say when they would resume.

READ: Cebu Pacific, international airlines hit by global Microsoft outage

A large-scale outage also wrought havoc on IT systems across Australia on Friday, with the country’s national broadcaster, its largest international airport, and a major telecommunications company reporting issues.

The disruption ahead of the first weekend of the school holidays in Berlin came as US tech giant Microsoft said it was taking “mitigation actions” after service issues.

The UK’s biggest rail operator also warned of possible train cancellations due to IT issues on Friday morning.