Global Tech Outages Disrupt Airports, Media, London Stock Exchange

A wave of global tech outages has caused significant disruptions across various sectors, including European airports, media organizations, supermarkets, and the London Stock Exchange.

According to CNN, Berlin Airport in Germany reported delays at check-in due to a “technical fault.”

Similarly, Edinburgh Airport in Scotland announced longer wait times owing to IT system failures, with teams working to resolve the issues.

Ryanair also experienced network disruptions, advising passengers to arrive at least three hours before departure.

In the UK, Thameslink, a major railway line, reported IT problems affecting train services, with efforts underway to identify the cause.

Sky News, a prominent UK television news channel, was unable to broadcast live on Friday morning. Executive Chairman David Rhodes apologized for the interruption, noting that news reports remained available online.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) website faced outages, preventing the publication of news and updates. However, other trading services continued to operate normally.

These tech disruptions have had widespread effects, grounding flights, hindering business operations, and limiting customer access to services. Notably affected are:

– United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines, which faced grounding of flights due to communication issues, as reported by the Federal Aviation Administration.
– Allegiant Airlines also grounded flights, citing a website issue linked to Microsoft Azure, Microsoft’s cloud software.

Microsoft acknowledged issues affecting access to various Microsoft 365 apps and services and is working on a resolution.

Australian carriers and airports, including Qantas, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney airports, also faced delays due to IT problems but continued operations.

Australian banks and telecoms, such as ANZ, Westpac, Visa, and Optus, experienced outages, according to Downdetector. Microsoft confirmed that Chinese customers encountered the infamous “blue screen of death.”

The LSE attributed its news service disruption to a “third-party global technical issue” but assured that other services remained operational.

Other affected entities include Australian supermarkets, state police, the national broadcaster, and New Zealand banks.