Latest news with #Skeyes
Saudi Gazette
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Belgian airspace reopens after closure forced PM Fico's flight to return to Slovakia
BRUSSELS — Belgian airspace has reopened after a technical issue with the air traffic controllers' Skeyes computer system forced its closure for just over an were unable to take off or land at any of the country's main airports but a Skeyes spokesperson said a system reboot meant flights were gradually returning to normal."Due to a technical problem with the air traffic controller, air traffic in Belgium was temporarily suspended this afternoon after 12pm and is now slowly being resumed," said Brussels Airport spokesperson, Ihsane Chioua Lekhli."So the impact for us was that some flights were delayed, from 20 minutes to one hour and two flights were diverted to Lille airport. We'll inform our passengers and now the situation is gradually stabilising."All aircraft flying in Belgian airspace that Skeyes controls were diverted to neighbouring countries using a back-up Airport, Belgium's largest, says there may still be some delays while air traffic control clears the backlog and has advised passengers to check with their airlines for updates."We are back in business," said Skeyes spokesperson Kurt Verwilligen."The system is operational again and is stable. Air traffic can gradually restart."The system outage also forced a plane carrying Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico to turn around and head was travelling to Brussels for a scheduled meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Energy Commissioner Dan Jø views on Russia have sharply differed from the European returned to power in 2023 after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won the parliamentary election on a pro-Russia and anti-America then, he has ended Slovakian military aid for Ukraine, lashed out at EU sanctions on Russia and vowed to block Ukraine from joining also been a vocal critic of Ukraine's decision to end the flow of Russian energy exports to a meeting with Jørgensen in December, he reiterated that he is prepared to use sanctions to pressure Kyiv to reopen the pipelines carrying Russian complained that Slovakia was set to lose millions of euros in transit fees because of the policy, and has even threatened to cut electricity supplies to Ukraine and cut support to Ukrainian refugees over the is a polarising figure in Slovakia and survived an assassination attempt in May 2024. Fico's ally Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, has told Brussels that a solution must be found if he is to consent to the renewal of sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now nearing the three-year mark. — Euronews
Euronews
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Belgian airspace reopens after closure forced PM Fico's flight to return to Slovakia
Belgian airspace has reopened after a technical issue with the air traffic controllers' Skeyes computer system forced its closure for just over an hour. Flights were unable to take off or land at any of the country's main airports but a Skeyes spokesperson said a system reboot meant flights were gradually returning to normal. "Due to a technical problem with the air traffic controller, air traffic in Belgium was temporarily suspended this afternoon after 12pm and is now slowly being resumed," said Brussels Airport spokesperson, Ihsane Chioua Lekhli. "So the impact for us was that some flights were delayed, from 20 minutes to one hour and two flights were diverted to Lille airport. We'll inform our passengers and now the situation is gradually stabilising." All aircraft flying in Belgian airspace that Skeyes controls were diverted to neighbouring countries using a back-up system. Brussels Airport, Belgium's largest, says there may still be some delays while air traffic control clears the backlog and has advised passengers to check with their airlines for updates. "We are back in business," said Skeyes spokesperson Kurt Verwilligen. "The system is operational again and is stable. Air traffic can gradually restart." The system outage also forced a plane carrying Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico to turn around and head home. Fico was travelling to Brussels for a scheduled meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen. Ficos's views on Russia have sharply differed from the European mainstream. He returned to power in 2023 after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won the parliamentary election on a pro-Russia and anti-America platform. Since then, he has ended Slovakian military aid for Ukraine, lashed out at EU sanctions on Russia and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO. He's also been a vocal critic of Ukraine's decision to end the flow of Russian energy exports to Europe. After a meeting with Jørgensen in December, he reiterated that he is prepared to use sanctions to pressure Kyiv to reopen the pipelines carrying Russian supplies. He complained that Slovakia was set to lose millions of euros in transit fees because of the policy, and has even threatened to cut electricity supplies to Ukraine and cut support to Ukrainian refugees over the issue. Fico is a polarising figure in Slovakia and survived an assassination attempt in May 2024. Fico's ally Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, has told Brussels that a solution must be found if he is to consent to the renewal of sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now nearing the three-year mark.
Saba Yemen
30-01-2025
- General
- Saba Yemen
Belgium closes its airspace due to malfunction in air traffic control service
Brussels - Saba: Belgium has closed its airspace due to a technical malfunction in the air traffic control service. The Belgian News Agency "Belga" said today, Thursday, on its account on the "X" platform: "Belgian airspace is currently closed due to a technical problem with the air traffic control service provider (Skeyes)." For its part, the Belgian channel "RTL" reported that "all aircraft that were in Belgian airspace were diverted to neighboring countries due to a technical malfunction in the air traffic control service." The spokesman for the air traffic control service, Kurt Verweiligen, told the channel: "All aircraft that were in the airspace within the Skeyes control range were diverted to neighboring countries... This was done safely using a backup system." "RTL" suggested that the malfunction may have been caused by a malfunction in the computer system of the "Skeyes" company, but the cause of the malfunction has not yet been precisely determined, according to the channel. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Euronews
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Slovak PM Fico abandons Brussels meeting amid Belgian air traffic control woes
A plane carrying Slovak Prime Minster Robert Fico to a meeting with top EU officials in Brussels was forced to turn back today as air traffic control difficulties all but closed Belgian airspace. Skeyes, the country's air traffic control service provider, explained that its main computer system was found to be "not functioning as required" at around 3 pm CET, Belgian media reported, forcing a mass diversion of flights back to other countries with the help of a backup system. Among those flights was a Slovak plane carrying Fico, who was en route for a scheduled meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen. Fico, whose election at the end of 2023 ushered in a Moscow-friendly government, has been a vocal critic of Ukraine's decision to end the flow of Russian energy exports to Europe. After a meeting with Jørgensen in December, he reiterated that he is prepared to use sanctions to pressure Kyiv to reopen the pipelines carrying Russian supplies. He complained that Slovakia was set to lose millions of euros in transit fees because of the policy, and has even threatened to cut electricity supplies to Ukraine and cut support to Ukrainian refugees over the issue. Fico's ally Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, has told Brussels that a solution must be found if he is to consent to the renewal of sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now nearing the three-year mark.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Yahoo
Belgian airspace closed due to technical issue
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Belgian airspace has been closed because of a technical issue at air traffic controller Skeyes, Brussels airport said on Thursday. "Due to a technical problem at air traffic control, no air traffic is currently possible in Belgium. We have no idea yet how long this will last," it said on social media platform X. A Skeyes spokesperson told local news broadcaster VRT that it became clear at about 3 p.m. local time that the air traffic control system used to manage Belgian airspace was "not functioning properly". He added that all aircraft operating within the airspace controlled by Skeyes at that time - up to an altitude of approximately 7,500 metres - were rerouted to neighbouring countries using a back-up system. Belgium's main airports are in Brussels (Zaventem) and Charleroi, with smaller airports in Antwerp, Liege and Ostend.
