Brussels Airlines resolves technical glitch causing false flight cancellations

Last Thursday, 14 December, a technical glitch in Brussels Airlines’ reservation system resulted in numerous passengers receiving erroneous notifications about the cancellation of their planned flights. Contrarily to the alarming messages, the airline has clarified that the flights were not cancelled, and it is taking proactive steps to rectify the situation.

Passengers who had booked flights with Brussels Airlines for the beginning of the 2024 Easter vacation may have received emails on Thursday falsely stating that their flights were cancelled. Alongside this notification, passengers were immediately provided with the option to rebook. However, investigations revealed that the flights were, in fact, not cancelled.

Brussels Airlines spokesperson, Nico Cardone, explained to the Belgian press: “On December 14, a minor technical issue occurred in our reservation system. As a result, some tickets booked for the period around April 1, 2024, were incorrectly marked as cancelled. When a flight is cancelled with us, an automatic email is sent stating that passengers can rebook. This was the case on Thursday.”

The error was identified and corrected on Friday. The exact number of passengers affected by the technical glitch remains unclear, but Cardone emphasised that the airline is manually assisting and rebooking everyone on their original flights.