Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Flights Affected by Crowdstrike Outage and Enhancing Resilience of Singapore's Air Hub Status in Face of Such Threats

Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Transport as a result of the massive global IT crash triggered by CrowdStrike 

a.     how many flights arriving and departing Changi Airport were (i) cancelled (ii) delayed or (iii) otherwise affected; 

b.     what are the key lessons learnt from external feedback as well as internal reviews; and 

c.     how can Singapore further enhance the resilience of our world-leading air hub.

Reply by Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat:

1.     Changi Airport handles an average of 1,000 flights daily. Due to the systems outage triggered by CrowdStrike on 19 July 2024, 108 departing flights were delayed by more than 30 minutes, and one departing flight and its turnaround arriving flight were cancelled.

2.     During the incident, Changi Airport Group (CAG), affected airlines and ground handlers activated its business continuity plans such as the use of manual check-in processes, and active management of congestion on the ground. These measures allowed the airport and airlines to continue operations, albeit at lower efficiency levels.

3.     CAG is working with affected airlines and ground handlers to review their business continuity plans, taking into account the learning points from this incident, including how back-up measures can be implemented more efficiently. For instance, adjustments were made during the incident to convert common check-in operations by airlines to dedicated flight check-ins to better manage passengers and prioritise flights with earlier departing times.