System outage causes flight cancellations in Frankfurt

BERLIN – A technology failure at Frankfurt airport has caused the cancellation of dozens of flights at Germany’s busiest hub.

Airport operator Fraport said an important database used to plan aircraft handling was out of action from 3:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

News agency dpa reported that Fraport said backup procedures were activated, but weren’t able to handle the airport’s normal capacity — and 71 out of a total 1,560 planned flights were cancelled.

German airline Lufthansa said that it alone had to cancel 23 flights by midday, affecting more than 2,600 passengers. Lufthansa board member Harry Hohmeister said he expects Fraport to “get a grip quickly on the evident infrastructure problems.”