Thought last summer’s air traffic control glitch was as chaotic as UK airports could get? Think again. Almost a year later, airports across the UK have unexpectedly been hit with huge queues and chaos following a global tech crash. The outage has affected Microsoft systems across the world and is thought to have been caused by cybersecurity company Crowdstrike.
It’s caused a bit of a meltdown – one traveller that has been queuing at Gatwick for over three and a half hours described the scenes as ‘bedlam’. Holidaymakers have now been warned of heavy disruption, travellers at Gatwick have been unable to check-in and ticket machines at several train stations across the country are down.
Worried about the global IT outage impacting your travel plans? Here is everything you need to know.
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What is Crowdstrike and who owns it?
Crowdstrike is the app thought to be be behind the tech crash. It’s designed to protect computers from hackers and prevent internet breaches for big global companies.
It’s believed that a software update was sent to subscriber computers and caused an instant crash. Cybersecurity experts reckon it’s down to a bug in the update, rather than a cybersecurity attack.
The company issued a statement that read: ‘CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon Sensor,' the company admitted in a statement as the disaster unfolded worldwide.
'Symptoms include hosts experiencing a bugcheck\blue screen error related to the Falcon Sensor. Our engineering teams are actively working to resolve this issue.’
The app was founded by former McAfee employee George Kurtz in 2012 and its stock is owned by multiple investors.
Which UK airlines are affected by the global Microsoft outage?
Ryanair and Turkish Airlines have both issued statements warning passengers about issues with ticketing and check in. Ryanair has advised that travellers arrive to the airport three hours ahead of their flight.
Dutch airline KLM has said that flight handling is currently ‘impossible’ and Swiss International Air Lines has warned passengers to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport.
What's the latest on travel?
Edinburgh Airport has said that there are longer waiting times due to the outage and those flying from Gatwick airport also face long waits as they have been unable to check in. Almost all flights have been delayed and some have been cancelled.
If you’re flying from East Midlands Airport, the average delay right now is 33 minutes, Manchester is 28 minutes and Birmingham is 30.
What to do if you’ve got a trip planned
The advice right now is to make sure you have plenty of time to spare on your journey (Ryanair suggests arriving three hours ahead of your flight) and prepare yourself for queues. And keep an eye on any updates from your airline.
Given that the issue is outside of the airline’s control, you probably won't be able to get compensation for a delayed flight but you are still entitled to assistance including meals, refreshments, accommodation and hotel transfers.
What other services are affected by the Microsoft IT?
The crash has had a huge impact. UK pharmacies, GP surgeries, banks, railways, supermarkets and media outlets have all experienced disruption.
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