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airport Zurich
Photo: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP
After a disruption at the Swiss air traffic control Skyguide, the airspace over Switzerland was closed and only reopened shortly after nine o'clock.
Numerous planes that were supposed to land in Zurich or Geneva have been diverted to neighboring countries since early Wednesday morning.
Skyguide said it was a technical fault.
"We are not assuming a cyber attack," said a Skyguide spokesman.
It's about a hardware problem in the IT network.
The entire airspace was closed for safety reasons.
Not only take-offs and landings, but also overflights do not take place.
How many flights were affected was not quantified.
In any case, it hits the morning wave of European flights between Geneva and Zurich and the surrounding area, as well as early arrivals from the USA.
The flight schedule of the Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss was particularly affected.
The incoming long-haul flights would be diverted to various airports in neighboring countries, including Lyon, Milan and Vienna, the company said.
Short-haul flights did not start.
The airline is trying to find solutions for the passengers quickly.
The lock will be maintained until the problem is resolved, said the Skyguide spokesman.
For a long time it was unclear how long this would take.
A Zurich Airport spokesman had previously said take-offs and landings had been halted, and Geneva Airport had said on Twitter that take-offs and landings were not possible until 11 a.m.
Ultimately, the opening of the airspace succeeded much earlier.
dop/kig/dpa/Reuters/AFP