Friday’s IT outage created havoc for numerous holidaymakers and individuals awaiting long scheduled medical procedures throughout Europe. Air traffic at Berlin’s airport was interrupted for a number of hours, as planes were neither landing or taking off, while railway reservations in Denmark and Germany also came to a standstill. Germany’s top IT security agency did not anticipate a speedy resolution for the situation.
The software collapse had a particularly devastating impact on largely cashless societies such as Sweden, where significant regional retailers, including the Åhlens department store chain, were unable to process digital transactions. Similarly, a malfunctioning checkout system led to the temporary closure of 300 outlets owned by the southern German supermarket chain, Tegut, on Friday.
The chaos extended to an array of European airports where check-in systems imploded in various cities. Temporary suspensions were witnessed at Berlin-Brandenburg airport and Schiphol in the Netherlands. Aena, responsible for 46 airports in Spain, together with Prague and Brussels, reported flight delays.
Technical issues with its reservation system were reported by Sweden’s SAS, despite confirming its full operational capability, and expected delays were predicted. Eurowings, a German airline, cancelled all domestic German flights and flights to and from the UK scheduled to depart before 3pm. The airline’s representative noted the decision was taken to ease pressure on their struggling IT system. Dutch airline KLM also cited widespread delays and cancellities.
Check-in-related complications were reported by Copenhagen Airport, which resorted to manually checking in passengers. In addition, the city’s fire department, Hovedstadens Beredskab, advised of challenges receiving automated alarm notifications from building smoke detectors and solicited individuals to telephonically report fires. IT problems were also reported by several media entities across Europe, including the Danish publishing company, Berlingske Media.
In the regions of northern Europe, primary transport and insurance firms alerted their clients about potential challenges. Two medical facilities in the northern parts of Germany, specifically Lübeck and Kiel, decided to postpone planned operations owing to the IT shutdown; however, they reassured that there wasn’t any disruption in patient care or emergency services.
Quotes from Claudia Plattner, the director of Germany’s federal department for IT security, pinpointed receiving 17 alerts from key infrastructure operators and 20 notifications from large corporations experiencing similar constraints. Mercedes, close to Stuttgart, documented manufacturing disruptions, with full production abilities not achievable on Friday. However, the Mercedes Formula One team admitted to having IT issues but claimed they were resolved by the afternoon. On the other hand, BMW in Bavaria mentioned that the IT related issues causing a slowdown in production were sorted by Friday afternoon.
The outage didn’t impact most of the digital infrastructure across the region including government, police, and transport company IT systems. Many corporations across Europe activated safety measures in response to the IT issues. In particular, one of Sweden’s biggest mining operations made the decision to evacuate its employees not long after Friday’s midday meal for safety.
On a more positive note, Deutsche Bahn – Germany’s rail operator often criticised for delays – reported with some relief on Friday that its IT systems were functioning as they should be.