Italy: Nationwide air traffic control issues disrupt flights at Rome airport

At Rome’s Airport, at least 12 flights had been cancelled by mid-morning, affecting services to Milan Linate, Bari, Riyadh, Tirana, Turin, Trieste, Valencia, Munich, Lyon, Catania, Venice and Trapani. Other departures faced delays of 15 to 60 minutes, leaving travellers gathered around departure boards to check updates. Passengers were advised to contact their airlines for the latest information.

The problems were detected overnight by ENAV, Italy’s air navigation service provider. Contingency systems kept operations running normally until 6am, but as traffic increased, regulators imposed flow-management measures that temporarily cut the country’s air traffic capacity by 50 per cent. ENAV said it was using alternative data-transmission systems to maintain as many departures as possible, including intercontinental flights.

The company said technicians had traced the anomalies to the data network and were working to establish the cause and restore full capacity. It ruled out a cyberattack or sabotage and said flight operations remained safe. Similar delays and cancellations were reported across Italy at airports including Milan, Bergamo, Naples, Venice, Palermo and Cagliari, while passengers were warned that further disruption could follow.