Travellers using Frankfurt Airport faced unexpected delays on Friday after a Bundespolizei IT failure disrupted electronic passport-control booths in Terminals 1 and 2. Airport operator Fraport issued a travel advisory urging passengers to arrive earlier, while the Federal Police said it had “taken all necessary measures” to restore normal service. The outage began shortly before noon and affected both incoming and outgoing traffic. Manual stamping lines remained open but quickly grew congested, pushing average wait times for non-EU arrivals to over an hour at the peak. Airlines were asked to adjust boarding cut-off times and to rebook connecting passengers with tight layovers. Although no flights were cancelled, ground-handling teams had to re-schedule crew rotations and refuelling slots, illustrating how sensitive the hub’s operations are to border-control technology. Frankfurt processes some 135,000 passengers a day and serves as Germany’s main intercontinental gateway for corporate mobility programmes. The Bundespolizei later confirmed the fault was linked to a software update applied overnight to the Secure Integrated Border-Management System. Cyber-security officials said there was no evidence of a hostile attack. Full functionality was restored by early evening, but the incident has reignited industry calls for more robust back-up procedures and greater coordination between police and airport IT providers. Mobility managers with staff transiting through Frankfurt this weekend should continue to monitor flight alerts and build extra buffer time into itineraries.
Source: Frankfurter Rundschau
