Swiss aviation security firm Skyguide has closed the country’s airspace to air traffic until further notice due to a technical problem. There was an outage in the early morning hours, Skyguide explained on Wednesday. Numerous planes that were supposed to land in Zurich or Geneva have been diverted to neighboring countries since Wednesday morning.
Skyguide said it was a technical glitch. “We do not assume a cyber attack,” said Skyguide spokesman Vladi Barrosa. It is a hardware problem in the IT network. The entire airspace was closed for safety reasons. Not only take-offs and landings, but also overflights do not take place, as Barrosa said. He could not quantify how many flights were affected. In any case, it will hit the morning wave of European flights between Geneva and Zurich and the surrounding area, as well as early arrivals from the US.
Swiss air traffic control, for its part, announced that Swiss airspace was closed until further notice for security reasons. Skyguide regrets the incident and the consequences for customers, partners and passengers. The company is working hard on a solution.
Flights need to be diverted
Operations at Zurich airport will be ramped up again from 12 noon. According to Skyguide, the closure should last until 9 a.m. Other times are speculation, a Skyguide spokeswoman told the AWP news agency on Wednesday. The planes should now fly to other airports. In Switzerland that is Basel, which reports to French air traffic control. Abroad, those airports closest to the flight concerned would be selected, the spokeswoman said.
Flight operations are expected to resume before noon with reduced capacity, Zurich Airport tweeted. Check-in is in progress. Passengers are advised to read the airline’s information before departing for Zurich Airport. Geneva airport had written on its website that the interruption would last until 11 a.m.
Swiss, for its part, announced that its arriving long-haul flights are currently being diverted to several airports in neighboring countries, including Lyon, Milan and Vienna. “Short flights are currently not taking off,” the airline wrote. Swiss strives to find solutions for the affected passengers as quickly as possible.
Austrian airports not affected
Markus Pohanka, spokesperson for Austro Control, assured that all systems in Austria are intact and working normally. “The safe and efficient handling of air traffic in Austria is fully guaranteed,” he said. However, the blockade in Switzerland is leading to alternative landings at other airports. In this country, this used to be the case with a plane from Shanghai landing in Vienna instead of Switzerland. It was not yet clear which other flights could be affected. “Austro Control is prepared for alternative landings at Vienna airport,” Pohanka said.
Air traffic at the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse was also badly affected by the Skyguide malfunction and the associated closure of Swiss airspace, the sda reported at the request of the sda. Until now, only a few flights were able to take off and land. Flights under instrument flight rules (IFR) were not possible at Bern airport. This includes all scheduled flights. Private flights under visual flight rules were still possible, however.
The Swiss authorities were apparently unable to provide information about the closure of Swiss airspace. In their place, the responsible authorities in Austria have informed airlines and pilots about the ban, the SDA reports.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
