Global airports crippled as check-in systems malfunction

airports airlines qantas daniel mee flickr

Fliers at some of the world’s busiest airports were unable to check-in this morning due to a network failure.

Airlines and airports using the Amadeus Altea check-in service were impacted. The system is reportedly used by over 125 airlines worldwide.

The issue was first noted by Twitter account @AirportWebcams around 11am SAST which left check-in services via apps, boarding passes and kiosks dysfunctional.

Users at Tokyo Haneda, Washington D.C., Melbourne and Brussels were impacted, but disruptions at London Heathrow, Gatwick and Paris’s Charles de Gaulle were also reported.

Out of frustration, fliers tweeted images of their predicaments at the affected airports, with a number of these images depicting lengthy queues.

The issue also affected travel agents across the world.

“We’re completely unable to create, view or amend reservations,” one user tweeted.

In a bid to reassure their customers, a number of airlines took to Twitter. Southwest Airlines’s and British Airways’s support page was particularly busy.

In response to the BBC, Amadeus explained that a “network issue” caused the disruption.

“Amadeus technical teams took immediate action to identify the cause of the issue and restore services as quickly as possible. That action is ongoing with services gradually being restored,” the company noted.

Feature image: Daniel Mee via Flickr (CC BY 2.0, resized)

Andy Walker, former editor
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