Air traffic in Belgian airspace was disrupted on Thursday due to technical issues at air traffic controller Skeyes. Planes were no longer able to land or take off.
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Technical issue at air traffic controller Skeyes closes Belgian airspace
Colin Clapson
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The outage triggered havoc at Belgium's main airports, including Brussels Airport. Due to the technical problems at the air traffic controller Belgian airspace had to be closed.
It was around 15:00 CET that it emerged that the air traffic control system used by Skeyes to operate Belgian airspace was not functioning properly, says Skeyes spokesman Kurt Verwilligen.
All aircraft flying at that time in the airspace that Skeyes controls (up to about 7,500 metres altitude) were diverted to surrounding countries. ‘This was done in a safe way using a backup system,’ the spokesman added.
Flights passing over Belgium above 7,500 metres can go ahead. These are controlled by a separate agency, Eurocontrol. On its website the European air traffic controller Eurocontrol speaks of ‘a total computer failure’ in Belgium.
The cause of the problem is being investigated. No aircraft could land or take off at the airports of Zaventem, Antwerp, Ostend, Charleroi and Liège.
In late afternoon Skeyes' computer system was rebooted allowing the take off and landing at Belgian airports to restart gradually.