Disruption for thousands of passengers in north-eastern Italy on Saturday evening due to a breakdown in the radar system at Milan’s Linate airport. More than three hundred flights were cancelled or diverted from airports in Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria.
The radar failure was experienced for about two hours starting at 21:00 CEST. Around midnight, the National Flight Assistance Authority (Enav) announced that the data transmission and connectivity problem encountered at the Milan Area Control Centre had been resolved and air traffic in the area had gradually returned to normal.
Also affected by the disruption were the airports of Venice, Rome and Pisa. “Now the investigation is underway to understand the origins of the breakdown and implement actions to prevent a recurrence of the problem,” the president of the National Civil Aviation Authority (Enac) Pierluigi Di Palma told the Ansa news agency.
The tale of a tourist stranded in Pisa
Andrea, an Italian citizen who left Saturday from Maspalomas in Gran Canaria headed to Bergamo’s Orio al Serio airport, told Euronews about his misadventure: “Less than two hours before arrival, the captain informed us that we would be landing at Pisa airport with the promise of replacement buses to reach Bergamo. When we arrived at the airport, loudspeakers announced that buses were not available and that we would have to find a solution ourselves”, he explained.
“The few taxis available were asking 1,700 euro to share with six other people, train tickets from Pisa station to Milan were either sold out or also at exorbitant prices. The only solution for me was to find a hotel half an hour from the station and leave on Sunday morning for Milan. On arrival I had to return to Bergamo airport where I had left the car for my return home”, Andrea recounted.
The website Flightradar24 published an image of the airspace involved, where for two hours no aircraft passages were recorded.
Associations demand explanations from the Ministry of Transport
User associations have taken action to provide support and to request details on the breakdown from the Ministry of Transport and Enav. Consumer rights NGO Codacons has announced a complaint to the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office for possible interruption of a public service. “What has happened in the past few hours represents a very serious episode that has brought the air transport sector to its knees, involving thousands and thousands of passengers,” the Codacons note reads.
“An even more serious disruption because it occurs during the summer period, when Italians are leaving for holidays and leisure trips. Many of those who have had their flights cancelled or have been subjected to prolonged delays were leaving to reach their holiday resorts, thus suffering further economic and moral damage.”
“It is unacceptable that in 2025 a single technical failure could bring the entire radar system of a large national geographical area to its knees. New technologies must be a guarantee of continuity and reliability, but yesterday’s event shows that adequate risk management protocols are lacking”, said civic and consumer rights NGO Assoutenti president Gabriele Melluso.
“European legislation on protection systems must be radically changed: an alternative system cannot simply ‘integrate’, but must guarantee one hundred per cent of data transmission in all conditions,” Melluso further commented, adding: “With the extreme heatwaves that are affecting our country, it is our duty to ascertain whether data centres have maintained the thermal conditions necessary to guarantee the operation of sensitive systems, and what prevention tools have been adopted. We demand that Enav and the Ministry of Transport open an independent investigation into the incident. We will collect reports from travellers affected by the inconvenience, in order to assess possible compensation actions,” the president of Assoutenti concluded.
How to apply for refunds for cancelled flight tickets
RimborsoAlVolo, a company specialising in air transport refunds, underlined that passengers affected by the air disruption linked to the breakdown at Enav’s North-West Radar Centre are entitled to refunds and assistance, as provided for by EC Regulation 261/2004.
“If the flight is cancelled or suffers a long delay, the airline is obliged to guarantee assistance to passengers in the form of meals and beverages in relation to the duration of the wait, hotel accommodation if one or more overnight stays are necessary, transfer from the airport to the place of accommodation and vice versa, two telephone calls or messages via telex, fax or e-mail” the company explained, adding that “if the assistance is not guaranteed and the passenger has had to pay for meals, drinks, taxis or hotels, the airline must reimburse the expenses incurred, provided that they are reasonable and appropriate: to this end, it is a good idea to keep all receipts certifying such expenses, preferably named ones, especially for taxis”.
With regard to the case of Saturday flight cancellations, RimborsoAlVolo points to the fact that airlines must offer the choice between: reimbursement of the ticket and, in the case of a connection, a return flight to the departure airport as soon as possible, boarding on another flight to the final destination as soon as possible, or boarding on another flight at a later date.
However, a flat fee “compensation of up to 600 EUR per passenger is not foreseen: since it is a case of force majeure, the delay or cancellation of the flight is not attributable to the airline’s responsibility,” Kathrin Cois, general manager of RimborsoAlVolo, clarified.