Yesterday, Eurocontrol experienced widespread flight delays caused by a software glitch in its air traffic system.

The European organisation for the safety of air navigation announced yesterday that the glitch could cause up to 50% of European flights (around 15,000 trips) to be delayed.

The glitch in the Enhanced Tactical Flow Management System, which controls air traffic, caused the capacity of the entire European network to reduce by 10%.

It also added “predetermined departure intervals” at an array of airports.

Eurocontrol said in a statement: “very much regrets the disruption that has been caused to passengers and airlines due to today’s outage.”

Several European airports also warned passengers to expect delays, including Brussels, Dublin and Amsterdam.

Written by Leah Alger