Air traffic disrupted across Italy by flight control network fault

Flights across Italy were severely slowed Friday due to technical issues affecting the data transmission network used for air traffic control nationwide, according to ANSA news agency.

"Given the gradual increase in air traffic and the persistence of the anomalies, measures to regulate traffic flows were introduced to continue ensuring the highest level of operational safety,” air navigation service provider ENAV said.

It noted that the measures included temporary reduction in the capacity to manage aircraft in the airspace.

“The possibility that the anomalies are attributable to malicious activity has been ruled out,” ENAV reaffirmed.

It said neither a hacker attack nor sabotage was behind the fault.

The anomalies in the “geographical data transmission network supporting air traffic control services throughout the country” were detected “during the night,” the statement further noted.

As the ongoing technical checks identified the source of the anomalies in the data tranmission network, ENAV was determining the causes and restoring the systems.

Several airports across the country were affected with cancellations and delays reported.