IT outage hits German airports, sparking huge delays for arrivals outside of the Schengen zone

Airports across Germany have been hit by a IT outage that has sparked huge delays for arrivals outside of the Schengen zone.

The outage has affected federal police systems used to check incoming passengers, Bild newspaper reported on Friday, citing the police.

‘Our colleagues have to do a lot of things manually that the system used to do. 

‘We’re still managing to get it done at the moment,’ said a police spokesperson responsible for Frankfurt airport, Germany’s busiest.

Federal police were not immediately available for comment. 

The report claimed police are carrying out security checks manually, increasing waiting times at the Frankfurt and Dusseldorf airports. 

‘At present, entry and exit are only possible with long delays for non-Schengen region,’ said a Dusseldorf Airport spokesperson. 

A Berlin Airport spokesperson added: Longer waiting times when entering the county from outside the Schengen area, but there is no halt on arrivals’. 

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.