Skyguide, the air navigation service, initially said the
closure would be in effect “until further notice” after the malfunction early
in the morning.
A few hours later, it said the airspace closure was lifted
at 8:30 a.m. (0630 GMT; 2:30 a.m. EDT) and air traffic over Switzerland was
resuming along with operations at the country’s two national airports in Geneva
and Zurich.
“Skyguide regrets this incident and its consequences for its
customers and partners, as well as for the passengers at the two national
airports,” it said in a statement.
Skyguide said the problem - a network malfunction at a
Geneva computer centre - was identified at 4am on Wednesday. A cyber attack has
definitely been ruled out as a possible cause, said Skyguide.
At no time was the safety of passengers threatened, Alex
Bristol, director of Skyguide, told Swiss public radio, RTS.
Progressive resumption
“We now expect flight operations to resume at reduced
capacity before midday,” Zurich Airport said in statementExternal link,
advising passengers to check information provided by airlines before departing
for the airport. It added that check-in was continuing.
A total of 77 flights were cancelled and 17 planes were
re-routed to other neighbouring countries. From 10am air traffic was fully
operational at Zurich.
Geneva Airport also tweetedExternal link that traffic had
started to resume progressively from 8.30am but “several flights are
cancelled”. Affected passengers are advised to contact their airlines for
further information.
A British Airways plane was the first to take off from Geneva
Airport at 9.30am, followed by an Easyjet plane, Keystone-SDA News Agency
confirmed.
Take-offs are expected to be delayed by 2-4 hours and 13
flights were cancelled at Geneva.
Although it is under French air control, the EuroAirport
Basel Mulhouse Freiburg was also affected. Very few early morning flights were
able to take off or land, the airport authorities said.
Swiss International Air Lines said External linkarriving
long-haul flights were being diverted to various airports in neighbouring
countries, including Milan, Lyon and Vienna. It expected a return to normal
during the day but "irregularities" may occur. Around 30 short-haul
flights to and from Geneva and Zurich were cancelled.
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