Lufthansa Faces Widespread Flight Cancellations, Delays Due To 'IT Outage'

On Wednesday, German carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG DLAKY reported widespread cancellations and grounding of its group flights due to a glitch in the airline's computer systems.
The reason for the failure was unclear.
"There is a group-wide IT system failure," a Lufthansa spokesperson was reported as saying. The company said it is investigating the matter and taking measures to resolve it soon.
Several flights were canceled, with no exact number of affected flights given at this point. Systems for check-in as well as for boarding were affected, reported Bloomberg.
Photos and videos from several airports across Germany showed chaos, with thousands of stranded passengers waiting to be checked in.
The airline expects flight operations to stabilize by early evening.
The company, in all, has around 700 aircrafts.
In a tweet, Lufthansa said, "Currently, the airlines of the Lufthansa Group are affected by an IT outage. This is causing flight delays and cancellations. We regret the inconvenience this is causing our passengers."
The IT system failure comes two days ahead of planned strikes at seven German airports, which are expected to lead to major disruption.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons