Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed on Wednesday, leaving thousands stranded after the airline Lufthansa experienced an IT outage, according to reports.
Reuters reported that more than 200 flights were canceled in Frankfurt, Germany, which serves a hub for the German-based airline. Frankfurt is also one of the largest airports in Europe.
A Lufthansa Airbus A321-200 aircraft takes off from Tegel Airport in Berlin, Germany. (Reuters)
“As of this morning, Lufthansa Group airlines have been affected by an IT outage caused by construction work in the Frankfurt area,” the airline tweeted. “Unfortunately, this has led to flight delays and cancellations.”
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The airline told passengers that as they prepare for the fallout from an upcoming strike this Friday, they are checking their flight status to stay abreast of any last-minute changes.
“We understand the difficulty this situation is causing and hope to assist you as soon as possible,” Lufthansa tweeted.
Frankfurt International Airport (iStock)
The IT systems later said all systems were back up and running and they expect flights to return to normal on Thursday.
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The airline reportedly blamed the fiasco on engineering performed by a third party on a rail line extension on Tuesday night.
During the work, a drill is said to have cut a fiber optic cable bundle from Deutsche Telekom.
As a result, Lufthansa’s passenger check-in and boarding systems crashed and air traffic controllers were told to suspend inbound flights.
Song with hundreds of flights canceled, more than 100 were delayed.
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Frankfurt was not the only airport affected. Charles De Gaulle in Paris even reported that two flights were canceled and two others turned around.
