Schiphol air traffic problems lead to mounting flight delays, cancellations

Technical problems with air traffic control in Amsterdam has led to "very high delays" at Schiphol Airport, according to the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol). Air Traffic Control at the airport "is still experiencing system problems and is currently working on a solution," Schiphol tweeted just before 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

Most flights scheduled to fly to Amsterdam were held at their departure airports while the issue was being dealt with, flight information website Flightradar24 reported

"Flights to/from Schiphol may be delayed or cancelled. Please consult schiphol.nl or your airline for more detailed flight information," the airport added. It was not known by 3:30 p.m. how long it would take for the problem to be resolved, but the capacity to handle inbound flights was increasing by 3:50 p.m.

"KLM is struggling with major delays resulting from the disruption," the Dutch airline said on Twitter. KLM called it a "major disruption" and cancelled a total of 50 departing and arriving flights due to the issue.

Airports in Brussels, Frankfurt, and London were identified by Eurocontrol as being available for diverted aircraft, the European agency maintained as early as 11:50 a.m.

Lines at check-in and service counters grew substantially since the problem was first reported, broadcaster NOS said.