Delayed flights expected at Geneva airport due to air traffic control issue

Skyguide reduces approaches at Geneva Airport as a precautionary measure Keystone-SDA

Skyguide air traffic control reduced the number of approaches at Geneva Airport by 20% on Monday as a precautionary measure for safety reasons. Delays are to be expected.

This is a temporary safety measure due to a latent technical problem, Skyguide wrote in a communiqué early on Monday morning.

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The reduced capacities will therefore apply until a solution to the problem can be implemented. According to a Skyguide spokesperson, it was initially unclear how long this would take. “We are working on it at full speed,” she said.

In concrete terms, the measure means that the approach rate will be reduced by 20% per hour, the spokeswoman said. It was up to the airlines to decide whether flights would be cancelled as a result.

Radar images briefly lost

In recent months, air traffic control has experienced seven malfunctions in a system that provides air traffic controllers with radar images, Skyguide wrote. The safety of air traffic was not jeopardised at any time. Due to the malfunction, individual working positions lost the image for a few seconds.

The problem occurred mainly in Geneva. Skyguide will update the affected systems in the coming days, first in Geneva and then in Zurich. The system updates will be implemented at night so as not to disrupt flight operations. “There are currently no plans to reduce the approach rate in Zurich due to this fault,” said the air traffic control spokeswoman.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

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