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Latest: follow our live coverage here
A global breakdown of Microsoft cloud computing services has hit Hong Kong’s airport, forcing passengers to queue in long lines and check in manually.
The Airport Authority said on Friday that flight operations at the airport were undisrupted, but affected airlines had “switched to manual check-in to continue serving passengers”.
“[The authority] has activated its emergency response mechanism in response to the situation,” a spokesman said.
He also suggested travellers “allow sufficient time to travel to the airport for check-in procedures and stay alert to updates”.
A government source told the Post that Hong Kong authorities had not received any reports about disruptions to their computer systems
Microsoft said in a social media post it was investigating an issue affecting the ability of users to access various apps and services on its cloud-powered platform.
The outage has hit airlines and airport operators across the world, including those in Germany, Australia, New Zealand and India.
The London Stock Exchange was also among those that reported disruptions. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing said after market close that all its systems, including trading and settlement operations, were functioning normally.
Several Hong Kong airline websites stopped functioning, with that of HK Express inaccessible.

Cathay Pacific Airways’ website was accessible as of Friday afternoon, but a Post reporter’s attempt to book a ticket led to a page that stated “service unavailable - zero size object”.
The website of Hong Kong Airlines directed to a page that said “Sorry, the page will be fixed as soon as possible”, but the booking page was available.
The American tech company on Friday morning warned that its users might not be able to access its various Microsoft 365 apps and services, including OneDrive and OneNote.
A spokeswoman for HK Express, the budget arm of Cathay Pacific, said its global e-commerce system, Navitaire, had been affected.
“Multiple airlines worldwide, including HK Express’ website, mobile app and WeChat mini-app (including the Gotta Go Super Sale booking) have been impacted,” she said
“Self-service check-in facilities at Hong Kong International Airport and our departure control system have also been affected, we are currently performing manual check-in procedures for our passengers.”
The carrier urged its customers to arrive at the airport at least three hours prior to departure to allow sufficient time to complete the check-in process. Passengers should refer to the HK Express website and social media channels for the latest flight information, while those at the airport could also check the displays on site.

HK Express was the only airline with lengthy check-in queues at around 4.30pm.
Hundreds of travellers were lining up while staff handed out bottled water. A passenger on Tokyo-bound flight 650 complained the service, scheduled for 2.15pm, had been delayed by at least 2½ hours and still had not departed as of 4.51pm, partly because travellers were being checked-in manually one by one.
Among those in line was Max Anderson, a 40-year-old video producer, who said at 5pm that he had been queuing since 1.30pm to check in for his trip to Thailand’s Chiang Mai, which was scheduled to depart at 4.45pm.
“I tried to ask the staff what is going on, but they said they are also not clear,” he said.
Lau hon-sum, a secondary school teacher, was meant to fly on a 4.15pm HK Express service to Bangkok for a fencing competition, but he was still waiting to check in at 5.25pm.
“My plane should take off at 4:15pm, and I arrived here at 3:15 pm, but now it’s now past 5pm,” he said.
He said he learned about the outage from the news.
Cathay Pacific said at 2.45pm that self-service check-in facilities at the airport were unavailable and customers should check in online via its website or app and download their mobile boarding pass before heading to the airport.
Customers with checked baggage were advised to arrive at least three hours prior to departure.
“We are working closely with the Airport Authority to restore these services as soon as possible. In the meantime, our airport team is providing all necessary assistance. We thank our customers for their patience and understanding,” Cathay said.


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Global Microsoft outage hits Cathay budget carrier hard at Hong Kong airport, some in 3-hour queues

Passengers are being checked in manually at the airport. Photo: Dickson Lee

A screengrab of an error on a booking page of Cathay Pacific’s website. Photo: Handout

Several Hong Kong airline websites also stopped functioning. Photo: Dickson Lee

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An outage of Microsoft’s Azure cloud services led to disruptions at multiple US airlines late Thursday. Photo: Reuters

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A flight information display system breakdown on Monday at the airport was preceded recently by a cargo plane accident on the runway which delayed flights. Photo: Eugene Lee

An airport employee updates flight information on a whiteboard. Photo: Elson Li

Cathay Pacific planes at the Hong Kong airport. Photo: Eugene Lee

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An airport staff member updates information on a whiteboard after a passenger information display screen failure on Sunday. Photo: Elson Li

Passengers look at an out of commission information display screen at the airport on Monday. Photo: Willa Wu

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Hong Kong

Hong Kong economy

Airport Authority says emergency response mechanism activated, with several airline websites not functioning and check-in being operated manually


Airport Authority says emergency response mechanism activated, with several airline websites not functioning and check-in being operated manually.
