Flights delayed across Europe due to a systems failure

Many flights will be delayed today due to a systems failure that will affect flights right across Europe today April 3.

The failure is down to the enhanced tactical flow management system (EFTMS) which also hits flight plans.

The issue with the ETFMS system has been identified and action is underway to return to normal operations. However, flight plans filed before 10.26 am were lost and aircraft operators have been requested to refile these flight plans for all aircraft that have not yet departed.

Contingency plans will be maintained for the part of the day until it is  certain that sufficient data is in the system to allow it to operate completely correctly.

Normal operations are expected by sometime during this evening.

Today just under 30,000 flights were expected over Europe half of which have been directly affected by this systems failure.

Air Traffic Control has not been directly affected and there are no safety implications arising from this incident.

We suggest if you are flying today to check with your airline on the current situation as it might be some flights could be cancelled.