A global IT outage linked to Microsoft Windows has caused widespread disruption to UK air and rail travel on what was expected to be the busiest day for flying since the start of the Covid pandemic. Over 5,000 flights have been cancelled worldwide, with UK airports including Gatwick and Luton experiencing long queues and manual check-in processes.
Passengers described 'bedlam' at Gatwick, where some queued for over three hours. Dean Seddon, 42, from Plymouth, told PA news agency: 'There are just people everywhere, there must be 400 people in this queue... it's just bedlam.' Airlines such as Ryanair, easyJet, and British Airways reported system failures, with some flights switching to handwritten boarding passes.
Train services were also affected, with the National Rail website reporting 'widespread IT issues across the entire network.' Key systems including driver diagrams and real-time customer information were impacted, leading to short-notice cancellations on operators like Thameslink and Southern.
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said her department was 'working at pace with industry and across government on the issue.' The UK air traffic control provider Nats stated its systems were operating normally, unlike a major failure last summer.
Passengers are entitled to refunds or rerouting and food and drink during delays, but compensation is unlikely as the incident is considered beyond airlines' control. The analytics firm Cirium reported 5,078 flight cancellations globally by 3pm UK time, with over 3,200 departures scheduled from the UK on Friday.
