Disruptions to flights are expected to continue across the UK after massive IT outages hit computer systems globally on Friday. While airports have reported that their systems are now operational, delays and cancellations are likely to persist into the weekend.
Several airports have advised passengers to remain vigilant and check for potential disruptions affecting their flights before traveling. The outages coincided with one of the busiest travel days of the year, as many schools in England and Wales have just begun their summer break.
In addition to airports, the IT issues affected GPs, pharmacies, banks, payment systems, and train services. The problems stemmed from a faulty software update for Microsoft Windows, issued by the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike.
Airports Struggle to Recover
London Gatwick has stated that its systems are “operating as normal,” but warned that delays and cancellations are expected to continue throughout the evening and weekend. Manchester Airport, which temporarily handled check-ins manually on Friday, reported that its systems are now functional, yet flights may still face delays and cancellations. Belfast International is operating normally but advised passengers to stay in touch with their airlines.
As of Friday evening, aviation analytics firm Cirium reported that 338 flights in and out of the UK—167 departures and 171 arrivals—had been canceled.
Widespread Impact
Simon Calder, travel correspondent for The Independent, described the scene at airports as “absolutely despondent.” Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Saturday, Calder mentioned the ordeal was “horrible” for travelers hoping to fly in and out of the UK. He noted that 50,000 British travelers woke up in unexpected locations due to the disruptions.
Delayed and canceled flights can have a cascading effect, as planes and crews are not positioned as scheduled.
On the rail network, National Rail stated the issue was no longer affecting operators, though some continue to advise customers to check their journeys before traveling.
Retailers, including Morrisons and Waitrose, faced issues processing card payments for part of the day, while Sky News experienced a brief outage. GPs struggled to access records systems, including online bookings, and pharmacy services like prescription access were also affected.
Crowdstrike’s Response
In a social media post on Friday, Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz apologized for the inconvenience and disruption caused by the outages, emphasizing that they were not due to a security breach or cyber attack. In an open letter to customers, Kurtz committed to providing full transparency about the incident and outlined steps to prevent similar occurrences in the future.