SEPANG – Thousands of travellers are stuck at the klia2 terminal here due to the global Microsoft cloud services outage that affected the booking and online check-in systems of budget carriers AirAsia, Scoot and Firefly.
Scoop observed that the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2 departure hall was filled with people waiting in line at check-in counters as the carriers can only proceed with manual check-ins for now.
The departure information board showed that many of the counters were closed, with maintenance notices displayed at the self check-in kiosks.
However, some travellers were seen trying their luck at these check-in kiosks, desperate to skip the long queues.
Exhausted travellers also sat on the floor with their luggage as they waited their turn.
Speaking to Scoop, Nurul Raqibah, 26, who is returning to her hometown of Miri, Sarawak, said she was shocked at the chaotic situation.
“I am going back to Miri. I reached the airport around 5pm and was shocked to see the crowds here. I saw the maintenance notices at the kiosks but I was not informed by the ground staff of the actual reason for this,” she said, adding that her 8.10pm flight had been delayed to 9pm.
Priya Thangaraju, 39, an engineer on her way back to her hometown of Trichy, India after her work at Kuala Lumpur said her flight was unaffected by the outage.
“My flight is not delayed but I need to queue up for a long time to check in manually. I had checked in earlier via the airline website. I thought I could just check in the luggage but this is taking a long time.
“So far, I haven’t received any email from AirAsia. I only learned about the outage when I got to the airport.”
Tourist from Sri Lanka, Mohammad Shamim, 40, said the departure gate was open, but he was unsure whether the flight was delayed.
Malaysian Atikah Ramli, 23, who was about to leave for Surabaya, Indonesia on holiday, said she and her family members had been waiting at the terminal since 2.30pm.
Her flight was supposed to take off at 5.55pm but had been delayed to 9pm.
Just like many other travellers, Atikah said she had not received any emails from the carrier to explain about the delays.
Microsoft cloud services have been grappling with a significant outage that has impacted a wide range of industries, including banks, airlines, telecommunications companies, TV and radio broadcasters, and supermarkets, causing widespread global disruptions.
However, an airport official confirmed to Scoop that the outage has not impacted the operations of Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines at Penang International Airport, nor Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB). – July 19, 2024