UPDATES WITH STATEMENT BY CROWDSTRIKE PRESIDENT
By Merve Berker and Nur Asena Erturk
ANKARA (AA) – A major Microsoft IT outage shook European lives, affecting airports, airlines, businesses, media outlets, and stock exchanges on Friday.
The Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam posted on X: “There is currently a global system failure.”
“This disruption also has an impact on flights to and from Schiphol. The impact is now being mapped,” the statement read.
“Do you have a question about your flight? Please contact your airline,” it added.
Spain’s 46-airport airline AENA said on X: “The global technical incident is affecting, above all, billing and passenger information points, but some systems are already being set up on a contingency basis.”
“We continue to work with all parties involved,” it stressed.
Also, Vueling Airlines from Spain posted on X: “We inform you that due to a global computer systems outage, our flight operations could be altered.”
It added: “We are working to minimize the impact on our clients. If your flight is affected we will inform you via email.”
London Gatwick LGW from the UK stated on X: “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,” the airport noted, adding, “We apologise for any inconvenience and are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Irish Ryanair Airline wrote: “We’re currently experiencing disruption across the network due to a Global 3rd party IT outage which is out of our control.”
“We advise all passengers to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before their scheduled departure time,” the statement added.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport said on X: “Passenger notice: Due to a technical problem, there may be delays in check-in.”
“Information for passengers: Due to a technical fault, there will be delays in check-in,” it stressed.
Budget airline Transavia said on X: “Transavia France confirms that due to a global IT outage affecting several airlines and airports around the world, its operations are disrupted.
Flights already in progress are not affected.”
“Flight safety is not in question. Transavia teams are mobilized to inform its customers,” the statement read, adding: “Transavia France confirms that due to a global IT failure affecting several airlines and airports worldwide, its operations are disrupted.”
“Flights already in progress are not affected. Flight safety is not affected. Transavia teams are mobilized to inform its customers,” it noted.
Air France also confirmed that it is one of the companies affected by the IT outage.
Belgian railway SNCB posted on X: “We are currently experiencing IT problems that could impact our sales channels as well as delay or lane change data.”
“We are doing everything possible to restore the situation. More information will follow,” it added.
However, French railway company SNCF told Le Figaro daily that it has "no difficulties" so far with France's train stations and railway traffic.
Southern Rail UK said on X: “We are currently experiencing widespread IT issues across our entire network.”
“Our IT teams are actively investigating to determine the root cause of the problem,” it said, noting: “We are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice cancellations, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks.”
Sky News said it has been impacted by the IT outage shock.
Anadolu tried to reach CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity technology company, but the answering machine said the company "is aware of reports of crashes" and directed people to the website to report further issues.
Medical officials confirmed on X that the National Health Service booking system used by doctors in the UK is also offline.
The outage also impacted stock exchange services around the world, according to media reports.
Separately, Crowdstrike President George Kurtz said on X that the company “is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.”
“Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack,” he stated, adding: “The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”
“We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website,” the official noted.
“We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels.
“Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.”