Fix found after Gulf airlines and passengers impacted by global IT outage

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Updated 20 July 2024
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Fix found after Gulf airlines and passengers impacted by global IT outage

  • A faulty update or misconfiguration by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike had led to international tech outages
  • Cybersecurity agencies said there was no information to suggest the outage was a cyber attack

DUBAI: Air passengers across the Arabian Gulf and around the world faced delays, cancellations and problems checking in as airports and airlines were caught up in a massive IT outage that also affected industries ranging from banks to media companies.

The travel industry was among the hardest hit with airports around the world, including Tokyo, Amsterdam, Berlin and several Spanish airports reporting problems with their systems and delays.

In Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh, King Khalid International Airport reported disruptions on some flights, prompting authorities to set up a plan to use alternative systems.

The airport urged passengers to contact airlines before heading to the airport.

Saudi airline, flynas, apologized and reported disruptions in some flights, which led to take-off delays and slow online services.

“The airline is currently working with the service provider and all concerned parties to fix the issue and provide alternative systems to ensure that operations resume as soon as possible,” flynas said in a statement.

“We also apologize to our guests for the confusion caused by this global outage that is beyond our control. We thank them for their understanding of this emergency circumstance. 

“We affirm flynas’ commitment to preserving the rights of travelers and compensating them in accordance with the Customer Rights Protection Regulations of the General Authority of Civil Aviation,” it added.

The operator of Dubai International Airport, one of the world's busiest airports and hub of Emirates airline, said on Friday the airport was operating normally again after a global system outage affected the check-in process of some airlines.

Saudi Arabia’s National Cybersecurity Authority issued a statement early Saturday saying that the impact of the outage to the Kingdom had been limited, adding that the authority has put in place exceptional measures to monitor threats and cyber risks and to respond to any cyber incidents if they occur.

Dubai Airports said in a statement the outage had impacted some airlines operating from terminals 1 and 2 but that the check-in process had been switched to an alternative system, which allowed normal processes to swiftly resume.

Flydubai, which operates out of Terminal 2, said that its operations had not been impacted.

Etihad Airways, which operates from Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, similarly said it was operating normally but that there could be limited delays across its network.

In a statement, a spokesman for Wizz Air Abu Dhabi said the company was monitoring closely the ongoing situation with IT outages due to a third-party provider affecting the aviation sector worldwide.

“We advise that all passengers arrive at the airport at least three hours before their scheduled departure time. 

“Our teams are working closely with the relevant stakeholders across our network to ensure a seamless travel experience for all our passengers. Thank you for your patience and co-operation.”

And Kuwait International Airport said some flights had been impacted by the outage.

Carriers, media companies, banks and telecoms firms around the world reported on Friday that system outages were disrupting their operations.

A spokesperson for the Dubai-based national carrier Emirates said they were aware of the global IT disruption and are monitoring the situation closely.

“At this time, there has been no impact on Emirates’ flight operations,” she added.

But warned: “There may be delays to some flight timings later today, due to knock-on effects from delayed departures from some airports around our network.”

“Customers can check our website and app for the latest flight information, and are advised to update their contact details on their booking.”

In a statement released on social media platform X, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said some of its systems had been impacted by the outage.

“Please be informed of a global technical issue that has affected some of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ electronic systems, including MoFA’s attestation service. We advise users to refrain from conducting any transactions until this issue is resolved,” the statement read.

International airlines, including Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, warned of problems with their booking systems and other disruptions.

The Saudi Data & AI Auhthority confirmed it had not been affected by the outage.

In a statement posted on X it said: “SDAIA confirms that its systems and the national systems hosted by it in the Kingdom are not affected by the technical failure that struck most countries of the world today.”

In a statement, Crowdstrike holdings said it was actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for windows hosts. “Issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed,” the statement said.

According to an alert sent by Crowdstrike to its clients and reviewed by Reuters, the company’s “Falcon Sensor” software was causing Microsoft Windows to crash and display a blue screen, known informally as the “Blue Screen of Death”.
The alert, which was sent at 0530 GMT on Friday, also shared a manual workaround to rectify the issue.

FASTFACT

Who are CrowdStrike?

The vast cybersecurity company does business globally, selling software and investigates major hacks. The company also helps run cybersecurity investigations for the US government. Most notably the company investigated the Russian hack of Democratic National Committee computers during the 2016 US election.

The Swiss Federal Office for Cyber ​​Security (BACS) confirmed that a faulty update or misconfiguration by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike had led to international tech outages. “The BACS is aware of the outages mentioned and has received corresponding reports from various companies and critical infrastructures,” the BACS said in a statement.
“A faulty update or misconfiguration by CrowdStrike is leading to these system outages. The BACS is in contact with the companies affected.”

However, cybersecurity agencies said there was no information to suggest the outage was a cyber security incident.

The office of Australia's National Cyber Security Coordinator Michelle McGuinness and France’s cybersecurity agency said there was no evidence that a global IT outage was caused by a cyberattack.

“The teams are fully mobilised to identify and support the affected entities in France and to understand... the origin of this outage,” the national cybersecurity agency (ANSSI) said, adding “There is no evidence to suggest that this outage is the result of a cyberattack.”
The outages rippled far and wide, wreaking havoc on global computer systems. Microsoft users worldwide, including banks and airlines, reported widespread outages, hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing the issue which affected access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.

The UAE foreign ministry said the global cyber outage had affected some of its electronic systems and it advised users to avoid any transactions till the issue has been resolved. It urged citizens abroad to contact their airlines before heading to the airports to avoid delays.

The UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority issued a statement, warning Crowdstrike users of a “technical issue” with the “software update.”

“We advise users of the program to hold off on any updates or downloads of CrowdStrike software until the issue is resolved.”

 

Major travel disruptions

Major US air carriers including Delta, United and American Airlines grounded all flights early on Friday over a communication issue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

“All... flights regardless of destination” were grounded due to the “communication issues,” the FAA said in a notice to airlines.

The UK’s largest rail franchise was facing “widespread IT issues” on its four train lines said, warning of possible cancellations.
“We are currently experiencing widespread IT issues across our entire network”, the four lines operated by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) posted on X.

Other transport systems across the UK and Ireland faced similar IT issues, with Ryanair experiencing disruption due to “a global third party IT outage”.

British airports including London Luton and Edinburgh warned of longer waiting times for passengers because of the glitch, while Sky News television was temporarily off air.

Passengers at Britain’s Edinburgh Airport were unable to use automated boarding pass scanners, and monitors at security displayed a message saying “server offline”, a Reuters witness reported.

Edinburgh Airport was checking boarding passes manually, the witness said.

A health booking system used by doctors in England was also offline, medical officials said on X on Friday.

The global outage was not being treated as a malicious act, a UK government security source said.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said security experts were not treating it as a cyber-related security issue.

Similarly, passengers at Dusseldorf airport are facing disruptions to Eurowings’ check-in and boarding processes due to the malfunction.

Hong Kong Airport Authority said airlines affected by a Microsoft outage had switched to manual check-in and flight operations have not been affected.

Three Indian airlines announced disruptions to their booking systems on Friday, matching widespread technical problems reported by flight operators around the world.

“Our systems are currently impacted by a Microsoft outage,” budget carrier IndiGo said in a post on social media platform X, with airlines Akasa Air and SpiceJet also reporting technical issues.

Turkish Airlines cancelled 84 flights after the IT outage, while Air France said it also suffered IT disruption, but not at Paris airports.

Spanish airport operator Aena on Friday also reported a computer systems “incident” at all Spanish airports which may cause flight delays.

“We are working to solve it as soon as possible. Meanwhile, operations are continuing with manual systems,” the airport operator said in a post on X platform.

In Berlin, airport authorities have halted all flights until 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) due to a technical fault, a spokesperson said.

Earlier on Friday, airport operator BER said in a post on social media platform X that check-ins were delayed due to the error.

The spokesperson did not give details about the nature of the problem.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, was also affected by the global cyber outage, a spokesperson said.

“The outage has an impact on flights flying from and to Schiphol,” he said, adding that it was not yet clear how many flights were affected.

The outage also wrought havoc on IT systems across Australia on Friday, with the country’s national broadcaster, its largest international airport, and a major telecommunications company reporting issues.

Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator said the “large-scale technical outage” was caused by an issue with a “third-party software platform.”

National broadcaster ABC said its systems had been crippled by a “major” glitch.

Photos posted online showed large queues forming at Sydney Airport, which said some airline operations and terminal services had been affected.

Some self-checkout terminals at one of the country’s largest supermarket chains displayed error messages.

Telecommunications firm Telstra also said some of its systems had been disrupted.

Major companies report outage

The website DownDectector, which tracks user-reported Internet outages, recorded growing outages in services at Visa, ADT security and Amazon, and airlines including American Airlines and Delta.

Microsoft 365 posted on X that the company was “working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion” and that they were “observing a positive trend in service availability.”

Australian outages reported on the site included the banks NAB, Commonwealth and Bendigo, and the airlines Virgin Australia and Qantas, as well as Internet and phone providers such as Telstra.

News outlets in Australia — including the ABC and Sky News — were unable to broadcast on their TV and radio channels, and reported sudden shutdowns of Windows-based computers.

With Agencies


Nigeria’s former president Buhari dead at 82

Updated 4 sec ago
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Nigeria’s former president Buhari dead at 82

ABUJA: Former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari — who led his country first as a junta strongman and later as an elected democrat — died Sunday at the age of 82, an aide said.
Buhari governed Nigeria with a strong hand as a military ruler in the 1980s before reinventing himself as a “converted democrat,” serving two terms from 2015 to 2023.
“The family of the former president has announced the passing on of the former president, Muhammadu Buhari, this afternoon in a clinic in London,” Garba Shehu, who served as Buhari’s spokesman during his presidency, said in a post on social media.
Current President Bola Tinubu said in a statement that he had spoken with Buhari’s widow and ordered Vice President Kashim Shettima to go to England to accompany Buhari’s body back to Nigeria.
The rake-thin 82-year-old Muslim from Nigeria’s far north made history as the first opposition candidate to defeat an incumbent leader at the ballot box in 2015.
His election victory in a country where re-election for the incumbent had been taken for granted was seen as a rare opportunity for Nigeria to change course.
But his time at the helm failed to halt the country’s long-standing issues of graft and insecurity, while the oil giant was further dogged by economic woes.

’Inexcusable’ failures led to Trump assassination attempt: Senate report

Updated 4 min 6 sec ago
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’Inexcusable’ failures led to Trump assassination attempt: Senate report

  • A congressional inquiry accused the Secret Service of ‘a cascade of preventable failures that nearly cost President Trump his life’
  • Six unidentified Secret Service staff have been disciplined with punishments range from 10 to 42 days’ suspension without pay

WASHINGTON: A congressional inquiry into the attempt to assassinate US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally a year ago on Sunday lamented “inexcusable” failures in the Secret Service’s operations and response, and called for more serious disciplinary action.
On July 13, 2024, a gunman shot the then-Republican presidential candidate during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing his ear.
One bystander was killed and two other people in addition to Trump were wounded before a government sniper killed the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks.
“What happened was inexcusable and the consequences imposed for the failures so far do not reflect the severity of the situation,” said the report released by the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The dramatic incident energized Trump’s bid to return to the White House, with his campaign using a photo of him bloodied and pumping his fist as he was hurried offstage to woo voters.
The report did not shed new light on the gunman’s motive, which still remains a mystery, but accused the Secret Service of “a cascade of preventable failures that nearly cost President Trump his life.”
“The United States Secret Service failed to act on credible intelligence, failed to coordinate with local law enforcement,” said the committee’s Republican chairman Rand Paul.
“Despite those failures, no one has been fired,” he added.
“It was a complete breakdown of security at every level-fueled by bureaucratic indifference, a lack of clear protocols, and a shocking refusal to act on direct threats.
“We must hold individuals accountable and ensure reforms are fully implemented so this never happens again.”
Staff disciplined
The Secret Service cited communication, technical and human errors and said reforms were underway, including on coordination between different law enforcement bodies and establishment of a division dedicated to aerial surveillance.
Six unidentified staff have been disciplined, according to the agency. The punishments range from 10 to 42 days’ suspension without pay, and all six were put into restricted or non-operational positions.
Reflecting on the assassination attempt earlier this week, Trump said “mistakes were made” but that he was satisfied with the investigation.
In an interview with his daughter-in-law on Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump,” Trump said the sniper “was able to get him from a long distance with one shot. If he didn’t do that, you would have had an even worse situation.”
“It was unforgettable,” Trump said of the events.
“I didn’t know exactly what was going on. I got whacked. There’s no question about that. And fortunately, I got down quickly. People were screaming.”


Russia’s Lavrov visits Beijing to discuss Ukraine

Updated 33 min 13 sec ago
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Russia’s Lavrov visits Beijing to discuss Ukraine

  • Russia’s top diplomat arrived in China following a visit to North Korea
  • China claims to be neutral in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine

MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Sunday in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart to discuss Ukraine and relations with the United States.
Russia’s top diplomat arrived in China following a visit to North Korea, where he received assurances of support in its conflict with Ukraine.
Lavrov and Wang Yi “discussed relations with the United States and the outlook for settling the Ukrainian crisis,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
China, a diplomatic and economic ally of Moscow, claims to be neutral in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
But it has never denounced Russia’s 2022 invasion nor called for it to withdraw its troops, and many of Ukraine’s allies believe that China has provided support for Russia.
Beijing regularly calls for an end to the fighting, while also accusing Western countries of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine.
The statement from the Russian foreign ministry said Levrov and Yi also discussed other “burning issues” such as the war in Gaza and the “situation on the Korean peninsula.”


Hundreds sign letter opposing ban on Palestine Action, calling it ‘major assault on freedoms’

Updated 13 July 2025
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Hundreds sign letter opposing ban on Palestine Action, calling it ‘major assault on freedoms’

  • Palestine Action, known for its direct action protests targeting UK-based Israeli weapons factories and their supply chains, was officially proscribed under anti-terrorism laws

LONDON: Hundreds of trade unionists, activists, politicians and campaigners have signed an open letter condemning the UK government’s recent decision to ban the protest group Palestine Action, describing the move as “a major assault on our freedoms.”

Palestine Action, known for its direct action protests targeting UK-based Israeli weapons factories and their supply chains, was officially proscribed under anti-terrorism laws earlier this month after a parliamentary vote.

The ban makes it a criminal offence to be a member of or express support for the group. A last-minute legal challenge to halt the proscription was unsuccessful.

“Peaceful protest tactics which damage property or disrupt ‘business-as-usual’ in order to call attention to the crimes of the powerful have a long and proud history. They are more urgent than ever in response to Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people,” the open letter, which has gathered more than 900 signatures so far, argued. 

Among the signatories are singer Charlotte Church and long-time environmental and human rights activist Angie Zelter, who was previously acquitted after disarming a BAE Hawk jet and destroying infrastructure linked to Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system, The Guardian newspaper reported.

Elected representatives also joined the list of supporters, including James Dornan, Scottish National Party MSP for Cathcart, who last week tabled a motion in the Scottish parliament calling for the Israeli military to be designated a terrorist organization.

Glasgow Trades Union Council, which is collectively backing the letter, issued a statement saying: “As the UK government is attacking our civil liberties, we must ask ourselves if not now, then when?”

Anne Alexander, a University of Cambridge researcher and UCU activist who helped organize the letter, said the response showed widespread opposition to the government's stance.

“The response to this open letter shows that people up and down the country want to stop arms going to Israel and that they don’t agree that a direct action group are ‘terrorists’ because they tried to disrupt the supply chain fuelling a genocide,” she said.

The draft order to proscribe Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 was put forward by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and passed the House of Commons on July 2 by 385 votes to 26.

The legislation included a ban on two neo-Nazi organisations, the Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement.

Some MPs and human rights groups have been critical of the government for the move, suggesting that combining Palestine Action with white supremacist groups in a single motion placed political pressure on MPs to support the measure.


EU and Indonesia announce ‘political agreement’ on trade deal

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announce a “political agreement” to conclude the deal.
Updated 58 min 5 sec ago
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EU and Indonesia announce ‘political agreement’ on trade deal

  • European bloc and Southeast Asia’s largest economy have been negotiating since 2016 to agree a deal that is expected to increase trade and investment

BRUSSELS: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday announced a “political agreement” to conclude a long-awaited free trade deal, as US leader Donald Trump upends global commerce.
“We’re living in turbulent times and when economic uncertainty meets geopolitical volatility, partners like us must come closer together. So today we’re taking a big step forward in this partnership,” von der Leyen told journalists in Brussels.
“I am very pleased to report that we have just reached a political agreement on an ambitious Free Trade Agreement.”
The 27-nation European bloc and Southeast Asia’s largest economy have been negotiating since 2016 to agree a deal that is expected to increase trade and investment.
A European Commission statement called Sunday’s agreement a “decisive milestone” toward striking the deal — which is to be concluded in September by EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and Indonesia’s chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto.
“There’s a lot of untapped potential in our trade relationship. And therefore this agreement comes at the right time, because the new agreement will open new markets,” von der Leyen said.
“It will create more opportunities in key industries, in business activity and agriculture, in automotive and in services.”
Brussels has stepped up efforts to improve ties with key potential partners around the world as Trump threatens a trade war with sweeping tariffs.
“This big and important political agreement on the free trade agreement with Indonesia is today a huge milestone forward, and shows that we’re looking for new markets, open markets,” von der Leyen said.
Prabowo called the announcement in Brussels a “breakthrough.”
“After 10 years of negotiations, we have concluded the agreement to have a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which basically is a free trade agreement,” he said.
The president said “we consider Europe still a very important factor, and we would like to see a very strong Europe.”
But he insisted that “the United States will be always a very important leader in the world.”
The European Union is Indonesia’s fifth-largest trading partner with bilateral trade between them reaching $30.1 billion last year.
Ties had been frayed by a proposed EU import ban on products linked to deforestation that has angered Indonesia because it is a major palm oil exporter.
That legislation has been delayed to the end of this year.