Computer outage causes disruption across German airports

Passengers experienced waiting times of up to two hours at Dusseldorf airport, while passengers at Berlin airport also expected similar delays.

BERLIN, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Technical issues caused widespread disruption at airports across Germany on Friday.

The federal police's computer systems experienced a nationwide outage, forcing officers to manually process the tasks that were typically handled electronically, a spokesperson from the federal police told German newspaper Bild.

Dusseldorf airport reported that "a nationwide IT malfunction" at the federal police led to delays in both entry and exit at border control.

According to Bild, passengers were experiencing waiting times of up to two hours at Dusseldorf airport, while passengers at Berlin airport also expected similar delays.

At 18:13 local time (1713 GMT), Dusseldorf airport, one of the most affected ones, announced that the IT malfunction at the federal police had been resolved, allowing unrestricted entry and exit for non-Schengen flights.

The outage, lasting approximately four hours, was attributed to a technical problem in the Federal Criminal Police Office's information system. Airports in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Berlin experienced only minor delays.

Heiko Teggatz, chairman of the Federal Police Union, criticized the government for inadequate IT modernization funding, highlighting a lack of approximately 150 million euros (154.48 million U.S. dollars). ■