Microsoft 365 and Azure hit by global IT outage

A widespread IT outage hit banks, media outlets, and airlines on Friday, causing significant disruptions at airports and grounding flights worldwide.

Reports of the outage began flooding in from around the globe, with broadcaster Sky News going off the air in the UK. The outage also impacted users of Microsoft's Azure and Office 365 services. Microsoft first reported the issue around 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, or midnight CET. In a post on X, the tech giant said it was "investigating an issue impacting users' ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services."

"We still expect that users will continue to see gradual relief as we continue to mitigate the issue," Microsoft added.

Airlines including Qantas in Australia and US low-cost carriers Frontier and Sun Country Airlines were forced to ground flights. In Europe, Ryanair's app and website users reported being unable to check in on Friday morning, with a surge of complaints noted on the outage tracking website Downdetector.com.

Ryanair confirmed the disruption in a post on X, attributing it to a "global third-party IT outage." Several European airports, including Berlin Brandenburg Airport, reported IT issues, advising customers to expect delays at check-in. Edinburgh Airport in the UK experienced a computer error that caused departure boards to freeze.

[Information sourced from Euronews]