A 16-year-old passenger at Edinburgh Airport was left in tears because she feared she might miss her flight to visit her father in the US due to a global airline IT outage.
Airport staff have warned passengers that major delays could result in security waits of “approximately one hour.”
Travelers shared their frustration on social media, with one describing the situation as “utter chaos.”
Edinburgh is currently believed to be the only Scottish airport significantly affected, however some individual airlines are also affected.
Alison Mattu said her 16-year-old daughter Priya was travelling to Washington to visit her father but was “in tears” because she was afraid of missing her first flight to Dublin.
She made her connecting flight, but her mother is worried that she might still miss her transatlantic flight.
She told the PA news agency: “It was chaos. People were confused because they were sent all the way outside to the trams and the car park and were told it was a safety issue.”
“Those who were about to miss their flights began to panic – including my 16-year-old daughter, who was travelling alone via Dublin to Dulles, Washington DC, to visit her father.
“She ran to me on the phone in tears, desperate and sick with worry.
“Fortunately, she made it on her first flight. Who knows what will happen to the other people travelling with small babies, the elderly and non-English speakers.”
However, Ms Mattu said airport staff were “amazing” at keeping people in queues informed.
Another traveler reported on X about “complete chaos” in Edinburgh.
ℹ️| Update – IT system failure.
Passengers should not travel to the airport without first checking the status of their flight with their airline.
Due to the outage, the waiting time at security checks is currently around one hour and our teams are managing this as best as possible.
— Edinburgh Airport (@EDI_Airport) July 19, 2024
Tracy McQue added: “An hour waiting in line to check in, another hour at security, departure boards not working and lots of confused faces. I’m not sure the flights are even taking off.”
Edinburgh Airport said on X: “Due to an IT system failure, waiting times at the airport are longer than usual.
“This outage impacts many other businesses, including airports.”
In a later update, the airport said: “Passengers should not travel to the airport without first checking the status of their flight with the airline.
“Due to the disruption, the waiting time at security checks is currently around an hour and our teams are managing this as best as possible.”
AGS Airports, owner and operator of Aberdeen and Glasgow airports, said they were “largely unaffected”. However, “a small number of airlines have switched to manual check-in and some retailers are only accepting cash payments”.
Meanwhile, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) confirmed that some of its systems were also affected by the outage, but countermeasures had been taken to avoid disruption.
A spokesman said: “NHSGGC has a robust contingency plan in place in the event of any system failures.
“We are currently monitoring the situation and although only a very small number of systems are affected, appropriate countermeasures are in place to avoid disruption to services.”
