Nationwide IT Outage Halts Flights, Disrupts Services Across the Netherlands

August 29, 2024
Nationwide IT Outage Halts Flights, Disrupts Services Across the Netherlands
  • On August 28, the Netherlands faced a significant disruption impacting public services, emergency communications, and Eindhoven Airport.

  • Eindhoven Airport first reported IT difficulties around 7 AM local time, leading to a halt in air traffic.

  • The airport announced that air traffic was impossible due to a network interruption, which is currently under investigation.

  • As a result of the disruptions, several flights from budget airlines Ryanair and Transavia were canceled, leaving many travelers stranded.

  • Scheduled flights to and from various destinations, including Manchester and Rome, were listed as suspended or delayed.

  • The disturbance is believed to have originated from a faulty update on the Netherlands Armed Forces Integrated Network, which supports emergency communication systems.

  • While the exact cause of the outage remains unclear, it has been confirmed to originate from one of the defense ministry's networks, affecting multiple government sectors.

  • The National Cyber Security Centre has stated that there is no evidence of a cyberattack causing the disruptions, although investigations are ongoing.

  • Emergency services experienced disruptions, but the national emergency number 112 remained operational due to an emergency protocol.

  • The Coast Guard faced technical problems, rendering them 'unreachable' by phone or radio, and advised emergencies to call 112.

  • Despite the issues at Eindhoven, Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport continued to operate normally, and hospitals remained unaffected.

  • Authorities are actively working to resolve the issues, although it remains uncertain when normal operations will resume.

Summary based on 12 sources


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