Video. Italy: Nationwide air traffic control issues disrupt flights at Rome airport

Video. Flight delays and cancellations disrupted Rome’s Fiumicino Airport on Friday 16 October after a fault in the data-transmission network supporting Italy’s nationwide air traffic control system.

Video. Italy: Nationwide air traffic control issues disrupt flights at Rome airport

At Rome’s Airport, at least 12 flights had been cancelled by mid-morning, affecting services toMilan Linate, Bari, Riyadh, Tirana, Turin, Trieste, Valencia, Munich, Lyon, Catania, Venice and Trapani. Other departures faced** delays of 15 to 60 minutes**, leaving travellers gathered around departure boards to check updates. Passengers were advised to** contact their airlines** for the latest information.

The problems were detected overnight by ENAV, Italy’s air navigation service provider. Contingency systems kept operations running normally until 6am, but as traffic increased, regulators imposed** flow-management measuresthat temporarily cut the country’s air traffic capacity by 50 per cent**. ENAV said it was using** alternative data-transmission systems** to maintain as many departures as possible, including intercontinental flights.

The company said technicians had traced the anomalies to the data network and were working to establish the cause and restore full capacity. It ruled out a cyberattack or sabotage and saidflight operations remained safe.** Similar delays and cancellations were reported across Italyat airports including Milan, Bergamo, Naples, Venice, Palermo and Cagliari, while passengers were warned that further disruption could follow**.