Several flights in the Netherlands disrupted amid worldwide IT outage
By Simone Jacobs
There have been various reports of IT failures all over the world linked to Windows computers on Friday, July 19. Airports in the Netherlands have also been affected, causing disruptions to several flights.
Global Microsoft outage felt worldwide
The cyber outage is reportedly related to problems experienced by the cybersecurity company, CrowdStrike. The problems have mainly occurred with Windows computers, whereafter being updated they show a blue screen preventing the system from starting up.
Computer failures have affected banks, police, public transport, broadcasters and airports around the world. From Sydney to Berlin, flights have come to a standstill in many cases, and the Netherlands is no exception.
Flights from Dutch airports affected by global IT outage
Due to the failure, several flights at Dutch airports have been grounded. The disruptions to flights have come at an inconvenient time as large crowds are expected due to the school holidays starting on Friday. Schiphol in Amsterdam has advised travellers to contact their airline and regularly check for updates regarding the status of their flights. "The impact is now being mapped out," said a Schiphol spokesperson.
Both KLM and Transavia have confirmed that the malfunction has caused disruptions to the airlines’ flights. Unfortunately, it can not be confirmed how long the disruptions will last.
Global computer failure impacts Dutch hospitals and more
Not only are the airports in the Netherlands affected, but hospitals have also been experiencing problems. The Sceperziekenhuis in Emmen has had to cancel all surgical operations in light of the malfunction. Emergency departments in certain areas are also not receiving people for medical emergencies for the time being.
Sites such as the UWV, Dutch bank KNAB, and more are also experiencing outages.
Thumb image credit: Tupungato / Shutterstock.com
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training. Read more