ENAV: air traffic disrupted by data network faults; capacity reduced by 50 per cent
Transmission problems: delays at Fiumicino, Malpensa, Linate and Orio al Serio. Investigations are underway, but it is not a cyberattack
Enav reports that ‘overnight, anomalies were detected on the geographical data transmission network supporting air traffic control services across the whole of the country. Thanks to the activation of the planned contingency systems, Enav ensured the smooth operation of services until 6.00 am this morning of air traffic, without any reduction in operational capacity. From 6.00 am, in view of the gradual increase in air traffic and the persistence of the anomalies, flow management measures were introduced to continue to ensure maximum operational safety; these entail a temporary reduction in the capacity to manage aircraft within Italian airspace. Technical checks, which are still ongoing, have identified the source of the anomalies as being in the data transmission network. ENAV is working to identify the causes and restore the systems to full operational capacity. It has been ruled out that the anomalies are attributable to malicious activity.”
Air traffic management capacity “is currently reduced by around 50 per cent”, according to Enav.
At Fiumicino Airport, as in the rest of Italia, flights are being affected. At present, there are four cancelled flights (Milan Linate, Riyadh, Tirana and Trieste) and around twenty flights delayed by between 15 and 60 minutes. ADR is informing passengers via its website, airport display screens and its own communication channels that ‘due to technical problems with the national air traffic control systems, delays and cancellations may occur. Passengers are advised to check the status of their flight with their airline’.
Disruption is also being reported at airports in Lombardy. At Malpensa, the departures board shows delays ranging from half an hour to over two hours, whilst those for arrivals are more moderate. Delays at Linate airport: arrivals are delayed by between twenty minutes and an hour, whilst departures are delayed by up to more than an hour. There are also problems at Orio al Serio airport, in the province of Bergamo, where the 6.50 am Ryanair flight to Trapani took off an hour and a half late; there was also a delay of one hour and twenty minutes for the same airline’s flight to Berlin, whilst the 7.45 am Volotea flight from Olbia is now scheduled to arrive at 11.18 am. ‘Due to a technical issue affecting the services supporting the Enav air traffic control system nationwide,’ reads a notice to passengers published on the airport’s website. ‘Scheduled flights may experience delays on departure and arrival.’
