CAIRO, July 19, 2024 -- Air traffic across the Middle East was disrupted on Friday due to a large-scale IT outage that impacted Microsoft cloud services. Airlines and airports were forced to implement alternative measures as check-in systems and other critical operations were affected.

King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, experienced delays and cancellations on some flights. Authorities responded by activating a contingency plan to utilize alternative systems and urged passengers to confirm flight status with their airlines before arriving at the airport.

Dubai Airport, a major hub for Emirates Airlines and one of the world's busiest airports, witnessed lengthy queues as the outage caused flight groundings. However, Dubai Airport reported a swift return to normalcy after successfully switching check-in processes for impacted airlines in terminals 1 and 2 to a backup system.

Kuwait International Airport also said some flights had been impacted by the outage. Kuwait Airways, the country's flag carrier, said it had been closely monitoring the development in collaboration with Kuwait's civil aviation authorities.

While not directly affected by the Microsoft outage, Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport experienced flight schedule disruptions due to issues originating from other airports.

The outage also impacted 14 hospitals across Israel, including most government facilities, as well as the state-owned Israel Electric Corporation's call center.

The incident stemmed from a software update issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and affected its customers running Microsoft Windows.

  - Xinhua