|HT|
Problems with the air traffic control system - specifically a computer failure - on Wednesday halted take-offs and landings at two major Switzerland airports and forced aviation authorities to close Swiss airspace till further notice. "... technical malfunction in the early hours of this morning, which is why Swiss airspace has been closed to traffic for safety reasons. Airspace closure is in effect until further notice," air navigation service provider Skyguide said.
"Skyguide regrets this incident and its consequences for its customers, partners and passengers at Geneva and Zurich airports, and is working to find a solution. Skyguide will provide further information as soon as it becomes available."
Geneva airport said traffic would not resume before 11 am local time (9 am GMT, 1.30 pm IST). Zurich airport authorities said they too had stopped all take-offs and landings. The halt was announced shortly after 7am local time.
Swiss news agency ATS-Keystone was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying all international flights to Switzerland were being re-routed to Milan in Italy. Flights are also being re-routed to Lyon in France and Vienna in Austria.
Short-haul flights are currently not taking off.
(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)