Frankfurt/Main
An IT glitch causes major handicaps at Lufthansa. The German air traffic control is now drawing consequences for the largest hub in Frankfurt.
Due to the IT breakdown at Lufthansa, German air traffic control has temporarily closed Frankfurt Airport for landings. This is to prevent the hub from filling up, as a spokesman for air traffic control confirmed. The machines are diverted to other airports such as Nuremberg, Cologne or Düsseldorf. However, starts were still possible in Frankfurt.
Lufthansa, on the other hand, has stopped all its departures from Frankfurt. A spokesman for the company confirmed this. For the second Lufthansa hub in Munich, there was initially no blocking of air traffic control. In the case of longer-lasting problems, however, this is an option. International flights are also affected by the landing ban, meaning that many transfer passengers will miss their connections.
Passengers can switch to the train
Deutsche Bahn recommends passengers who want to switch to rail due to the IT breakdown at Lufthansa to look online for trains that are less popular. “With its ICE connections between the major cities, which run at least every hour, Deutsche Bahn generally offers sufficient capacity to be able to transport the passengers affected,” the group said. “We recommend reserving a seat in any case and checking the occupancy display on bahn.de and in the DB Navigator for trains that are less popular.”
The reason for the IT breakdown was probably railway construction work
According to the company, the serious IT breakdown at Lufthansa was triggered by construction work on a railway line in Frankfurt. Several fiber optic cables from Deutsche Telekom were said to have been severed by an excavator on Tuesday. According to a report by the hessenschau.de portal, the Telekom disruption affected the greater Frankfurt area, with a focus on the north. The airport is in the west of the Main metropolis.
