Deutsche Lufthansa AG grounded all of its flights early Wednesday after damage to a set of Deutsche Telekom AG broadband cables caused widespread IT problems.
(Bloomberg) — Deutsche Lufthansa AG grounded all of its flights early Wednesday after damage to a set of Deutsche Telekom AG broadband cables caused widespread IT problems.Â
Some flight operations have resumed, though all flights in Frankfurt, its main base, remain grounded, a spokesman said. Lufthansa expects the problem to be resolved by early evening.
Lufthansa’s global flight operations center is located on the outskirts of Frankfurt’s airport, so damage to the communications links there ripple through Lufthansa ground IT systems across the world. The issues on Wednesday affected the company’s check-in operations and other systems.Â
The disruption, caused by damage to broadband cables at a rail location in northern Frankfurt, forced Europe’s biggest airline by fleet size to ground hundreds of flights worldwide. In Germany, air traffic control had to divert landings in Frankfurt to prevent an overflow.Â
Deutsche Telekom spokesman Peter Kespohl said that since Tuesday four broadband fiber cables had been damaged at a Deutsche Bahn railtrack. The cables were damaged by concrete drills during work that was neither commissioned by nor conducted by Deutsche Telekom.Â
Deutsche Telekom has already repaired two of the cables and is working on the others, Kespohl said, adding that the company couldn’t immediately say how long it will take to finish the repairs.
The disruption comes before a Friday strike of ground staff at Lufthansa’s Frankfurt and Munich hubs, an action that’s likely to lead to hundreds of flight cancellations. The Verdi services union has called the one-day walkout due to slow progress in talks over pay and conditions for security and other staff.
Lufthansa’s turmoil adds to Germany’s travel-industry headaches this week. The Verdi services union earlier Wednesday called for a strike on Friday of ground staff at Lufthansa’s Frankfurt and Munich hubs, as well as other major airports. The action, called due to slow progress in talks over pay and working conditions for security and other staff, are likely to lead to hundreds of flight cancellations and complicate travel for delegates attending the Munich Security Conference, a major annual event for defense and foreign policymakers.
In total, Lufthansa has around 700 aircraft. Its stable of airlines includes its namesake brand and the national flag-carriers Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Swiss. The company also operates low-cost carrier Eurowings as well as other smaller brands.
Lufthansa fell as much as 2.5% in Frankfurt. The shares are still up around 22% this year.
The German company is scheduled to report earnings for 2022 next month. In December, the carrier raised its full-year earnings target on rebounding air travel.
(Updates with Lufthansa statement in second paragraph.)
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