A blue error screen on a register is seen at a departmental store affected by a cyber outage in Brisbane, Australia (Picture: Reuters)
Airlines, major banks, news organisations and other businesses around the world have been knocked offline after a major IT outage.
The glitch has seen flights grounded in the US, Australia and Germany, while airports in the UK have reported issues with boarding pass scanners.
Sky News has been knocked off air, while Britain’s biggest train company warned passengers to expect disruption during rush hour due to ‘widespread IT issues’.
Here are the major institutions we know to be affected so far.
Airlines
London Gatwick airport has said ‘passengers may experience some delays’ due to the global outage.
On X, formerly Twitter, the airport posted: ‘We are affected by the global Microsoft issues, so passengers may experience some delays while checking in and passing through security.
‘Passengers should still arrive for their normal check-in time.
‘We apologise for any inconvenience and are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.’
London Stansted Airport said that some airline check-in services are being done manually as a result of the IT outage, but ‘flights are still operating as normal’.
A spokesperson said: ‘Some retail payment machine services have been impacted, and some airline check-in services reverted to being done manually, but our main operational systems are unaffected and flights are still operating as normal.’
Edinburgh Airport said the IT outage is causing longer waiting times.
Ryanair said its flights are being disrupted by the outage.
The airline said in a statement: ‘We’re currently experiencing disruption across the network due to a global third party IT outage which is out of our control.
‘We advise all passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their scheduled departure time.’
Berlin airport has halted all flights until 10 am (8am GMT) due to a technical fault, a spokesperson told Reuters on Friday.
Major US carriers including American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines issued ground stops on Friday morning citing communication issues.
Trains
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) – parent company of Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern – warned passengers to expect delays because of the issue.
Train operator TransPennine Express (TPE) warned passengers it has been affected by the IT outage.
It said: ‘Please be aware that some TPE stations and systems are having IT issues.
‘Please purchase tickets on board if you are unable to do so in stations.’
News organisations
Sky News has been knocked off air online amid reports of widespread IT outages affecting airlines, broadcasters and banks.
On Friday morning, a statement on their online page, YouTube and TV channel says: ‘We apologise for the interruption to this broadcast.
‘We hope to restore the transmission of Sky News shortly.’
Banks
Issues have been reported in relation to NatWest, HSBC, Santander and Lloyds Bank.
There have also been reports of problems with Visa.
Meanwhile, the London Stock Exchange has warned its data feed faces tech issues, causing delays to company results and announcements.
Medical services
GP surgeries have said they are unable to access patient records or book appointments due to the major global IT outage.
NHS England has been contacted for comment after practices took to social media to report they cannot access the EMIS Web system.
EMIS Web is the most widely used clinical system for primary care in the UK.
The Wilmslow Health Centre in Cheshire wrote on X: ‘All practices in the UK using the NHS commissioned GP computer system EMIS are currently without access to their IT systems.
‘This is beyond the control of GP surgeries. Please bear with us until we have our IT systems back online.’
NHS England has been contacted for comment.
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