Belgium: Airspace closed due to technical problem

Belgian airspace has been closed after technical problems shut down air traffic control systems, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and diverted around Europe.

 

Passengers trapped at Brussels airport described “chaos” as huge queues built up at airline desks and planes were stuck for hours on the tarmac.

 

One frustrated passenger described how he had been taken on and then off his flight and had “no idea what was going on”.

Departure boards showed that every flight scheduled over the coming hours had been delayed or cancelled, while all arrivals were diverted.

 

By 12.30pm, almost 150 flights had been cancelled at Brussels airport and dozens more had to be diverted to other countries, affecting 20,000 passengers.

 

Airports in Dusseldorf, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam were among those allowing planes to land. Read more:

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/belgian-airspace-closed-air-traffic-control-failure-grounds-all-flights-causing-chaos-at-brussels-airport-10278525.html