Thousands of passengers were stranded at the airport on Wednesday. The glitch at Skyguide has far-reaching consequences.
Scene from Wednesday morning at Zurich Airport. Due to the failure of Skyguide, Swiss had to cancel around thirty flights.
The color on the display boards at Zurich Airport does not bode well. It’s red everywhere. 6:50 am flight to London: cancelled. 7 a.m., Copenhagen: cancelled. Vienna, 7:10 a.m.: cancelled. And so forth. Nothing works anymore. Passengers in summer clothes and flip-flops stand helplessly with their suitcases in front of the check-ins, look around in amazement or type on their mobile phones. Haven’t seen a picture like this for a long time.
What happened on Wednesday morning at the airport is an operational super meltdown. Due to a system malfunction by the air traffic control company Skyguide, the airspace over Switzerland was closed for around two hours, and aircraft could neither take off nor land. Swiss has to cancel several dozen flights. Now of all times, when air tourism is picking up again after the pandemic. At the request of the NZZ, the airline did not comment on the financial impact. Claims for damages are not made to Skyguide.
The failure also comes at a bad time for the airport. This Wednesday, those responsible will present the plans for a new dock, but the journalists’ attention is primarily focused on the Skyguide failure. Stephan Widrig, CEO of the airport, will later say: “The only comparable disruption was the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull in 2010. Apart from that, there has not been a case in the past two decades in which Swiss airspace was closed for 30 minutes or more .»
Skyguide last had a serious breakdown in January 2013 when a fire alarm was triggered in the control center. At that time, after 8:30 a.m., the pilots had to temporarily leave the building. No aircraft could take off or land for 20 minutes, and overflights were no longer possible. Although there were numerous delays, normal operations prevailed again in the afternoon. However, the Swiss aviation system did not get away so lightly this time, the massive disruption lasted too long.
Thousands of passengers stranded
Swiss had to cancel around thirty flights on Wednesday because of the disruption, and 6,400 passengers were temporarily stranded. At the airport itself, the situation in the public area, in front of the security check, is quite clear. Many of the travelers are likely to have already checked in before their flight was canceled.
In the large hall in front of the check-ins, the atmosphere is relaxed, although most passengers don’t really know what to do. Two couples who have just got off the train have just found out that their flight to Munich at 9:20 am has been cancelled. You stay calm. “Then we can just turn around and drive back home,” says one of the women and laughs. Her husband, standing next to her, shakes his head. “Let’s just wait and see. Maybe we can still fly after all.”
The tone is also relaxed on social networks. ‘Is it advisable to come to the airport now? My flight leaves at 10 a.m. », asks a user on the Swiss channel at 8:23 a.m. in English. “Absolutely!” replies the airline.
In fact, at 8:45 a.m. the redeeming announcement came at the airport that operations could be resumed on a reduced scale. Now the passengers are moving. A family of six standing in front of the almost empty Swiss check-in looks relieved. She lives in the USA and is passing through Switzerland, going to Barcelona for vacation.
Each family member has a large suitcase with them, the mother wears a pink inflatable neck pillow around her neck. Check-in is in progress, and a few minutes later everyone has checked in their suitcases. The family hardly noticed anything about the failures. “Our flight is on time,” says the mother and walks on.
Far-reaching delays
The disruption has now been resolved, but the airport is warning passengers that delays are to be expected. It’s 9:30 am when a couple stands in front of one of the display boards, looking for their flight. The flight to Lisbon is scheduled for 12:45 p.m., but the two are so early that the flight is not even listed. “We came here early, and now this,” says the woman. “I only believe that we can fly when I see the departure date in front of me.”
Airport CEO Stephan Widrig says: “The biggest challenge for us was to inform the passengers and to assess whether there could be critical peaks in passenger numbers.” This was not the case. “Fortunately, the situation normalized before the midday wave, when many long-haul planes take off.”
The disruption also has consequences for passengers who wanted to travel to Zurich during the day. Swiss flights with destination Zurich will be diverted to Lyon, Milan or Vienna. The airline announced that efforts were being made to find solutions for the affected passengers as quickly as possible.
Even after operations have been fully ramped up again, numerous flights have to be postponed. In this case, it would be difficult for travelers to claim financial compensation because of a cancellation or a delay, an expert told the Tamedia newspapers. This is because the error lies with the air traffic control and not with the airline.
The couple who want to go to Lisbon are lucky: their flight around Lisbon actually leaves at 12:45. The Portugal holidays can start without delay after a short excitement.