Dubai: The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop on Friday evening, allowing flights to resume after a telecommunications failure halted departures across the country for more than four hours. The shutdown caused widespread disruption, leaving thousands of travellers facing cancellations, delays and lengthy waits at airports.
The FAA lifted the restrictions at 8.15pm Eastern Time (1.15am GMT on Saturday), after suspending departures at 3.54pm over concerns about communication systems used by air traffic controllers. Aircraft already in the air were permitted to land, while some international flights received clearance to depart before the nationwide restrictions were removed.
Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click here.
The disruption affected one of the world's busiest aviation networks. According to aviation data company Cirium, approximately 11,000 flights carrying more than 1.5 million passengers had been scheduled to depart from US airports after 4pm on Friday.
Although flights were cleared to resume, officials warned that airlines would need time to reposition aircraft and crews and clear the backlog of delayed passengers.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributed the failure to ageing air traffic control technology and routers overwhelmed by data.
