Passengers Delayed As Airports Worldwide Hit By Network Issue

Tom Jowitt,
An aeroplane or airplane at an airport. UK border, Heathrow.

Delays reported at airports worldwide due to ‘network issue’ with passenger management system

Passengers at a number of airports around the world are being delayed due to a fault with a passenger management system called Amadeus Altea.

Amadeus Altea is described as a “complete Passenger Service System that offers full reservation, inventory and departure control capabilities.

The system is designed to be a mission critical platform for the airline industry, and was created by Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa and SAS back in 1987.

aeroplane takeoff

Small Problem

But now passengers are reportedly being delayed at airports including Gatwick, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Melbourne among others.

The problem has caused check-in delays and booking problems for many airlines including British Airways, Qantas, and Lufthansa.

According to the BBC, Amadeus said it had identified a “network issue” but that services were being restored.

“A small number of airlines are experiencing problems across the world and we’re working closely with them to solve the issue,” Heathrow airport was quoted as saying.

But it seems that the problem has already been identified.

“During the morning, we experienced a network issue that caused disruption to some of our systems,” the BBC quoted an Amadeus spokesman as saying.

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

“Amadeus regrets any inconvenience caused to customers.”

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Airport Problems

IT systems play an increasingly important element in the airline industry, as new systems generally help in the processing of passengers and reducing queues.

But that is not to say that the occasional problem doesn’t occur.

In 2013 for example Major airports across the UK, including Heathrow and Gatwick, experienced delays due to technical issues at the national air traffic control body NATS.

Prior to that in 2011, a serious computer failure at NATS caused delays to flights going in and out of London. Traffic control staff at London airports were forced to input flight plans manually.

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