This was published 6 years ago
Chaos in airports due to worldwide failure of a check-in system used by 125 airlines
Long queues at Melbourne Airport in Australia.Credit: Osama Nasir/Twitter
Frustrated travellers were stuck in long queues at airports around the world on Thursday night (AEST Time), after many airlines were unable to check passengers in because of the worldwide failure of a check-in system used by 125 airlines.
Spanish travel technology firm Amadeus, which operates global travel booking systems and offers check-in services for airlines, said it suffered a network problem on Thursday which caused a disruption to some of its systems and had fixed the problem.
All Southwest Airlines kiosks were down at Baltimore Washington International Airport, according to Twitter user @PoorRobin.
Shane Miles was stuck in a huge queue at Haneda Airport in Japan after Qantas experienced problems with its check-in systems.Credit: Shane Miles/Twitter
Airports said the disruption was limited, but frustrated travellers vented their displeasure on social media, posting pictures and videos of long queues at airports worldwide.
Shane Miles was stuck in a huge queue at Haneda Airport in Japan after Qantas experienced problems with its check-in systems.
'When you've been looking forward to your holiday all year and then all computers at airport crash as you are checking in. ALL SERVERS DOWN'," @cinnamonwalsh tweeted from London.
All Southwest Airlines kiosks were down at Baltimore Washington International Airport, according to Twitter user @PoorRobin.Credit: @PoorRobin/Twitter
A video of the Thomas Cook check-in desk at London Gatwick, posted on Twitter, showed hundreds of people queuing as the computer problems hit.
"We experienced a network issue that caused disruption to some of our systems. As a result of the incident, customers experienced disruption to certain services," an Amadeus spokesman said.
"Amadeus technical teams took immediate action to identify the cause of the issue and mitigate against the impact on customers. Amadeus regrets any inconvenience caused to customers."
A similar incident occurred in April, when computer issues briefly prevented airlines including Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, from boarding passengers one evening.
Frankfurt airport operator Fraport said on Twitter that Germany's largest carrier Lufthansa and partner airlines had been hit by a problem for around 30 minutes, which prevented bags being checked in, but said the issue had been resolved.
London's Gatwick airport also said its airlines had some "brief issues" but were now operating as normal.
A spokesman for Groupe ADP, which operates and manages more than a dozen airports in the greater Paris region, confirmed airlines using the Amadeus system had been affected at the French capital's Charles de Gaulle airport.
"This was a worldwide failure (of the Amadeus system). We were no worse affected than other airports. It only lasted a few minutes," the spokesman said. He said national carrier Air France was among the airlines that used Amadeus.
In Washington, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said Southwest Airlines reported a computer issue causing a few minor delays at Reagan National Airport of up to 16 minutes but there were no other issues at present.
Problems were also reported by passengers at London's Heathrow Airport, and airports in many other locations including Australia, New York, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and South Africa.
Reuters, Stuff
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