KUALA LUMPUR – AirAsia’s operations remain disrupted by the recent global Microsoft cloud outage, with the local airline opting to stick with manual check-ins.
The airline said that while it had been working on recovering its departure control system in the aftermath of the worldwide tech disruption, manual processing remained the most reliable and secure method.
As such, it said in a statement today, all AirAsia guests were strongly encouraged to arrive early at the airport to accommodate possible delays in performing manual check-ins at the counters and clearing relevant travel formalities.
“The airline has also strengthened its operations to manage the weekend wave at the airport by deploying more than 200 ground staff and close to 100 Allstars volunteers as well as security personnel,” it added.
Guests are also encouraged to monitor the status of their flights by checking their registered email and mobile phones for flight updates.
Yesterday, it was reported that the major disruption experienced by global internet systems using Microsoft cloud services was due to an update released by American cybersecurity technology company CrowdStrike.
While the trigger behind the chaos was a piece of CrowdStrike software – the Falcon Sensor – tens of thousands in Malaysia, and millions more worldwide, were affected by the disruption.
In the aviation sector, US airlines such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines remained grounded for hours after the disruption began. German and Spanish airports have reported similar issues as well.
In Malaysia, budget airlines such as AirAsia, Firefly and Scoot also had their wings “clipped” due to their kiosks being affected by the disruption, and had to opt for manual check-ins.
Malaysia Aviation Group confirmed that flight schedules for flag-carrier Malaysia Airlines and budget carrier Firefly remained unaffected, with no flights cancelled due to the service outage.
However, Firefly’s booking and online check-in systems were impacted by the issue.
The National Cyber Security Agency had earlier assured that while the service outage had dealt a significant blow to Malaysian businesses and industries, it was not considered a cyberattack. – July 20, 2024