A cascading software glitch at ENAV’s Milan Area Control Centre knocked out radar and communications feeds at 20:55 on 6 December, forcing an immediate ground-stop at five key airports: Malpensa, Linate, Bergamo, Turin and Genoa. For nearly two hours no aircraft could take off or land; more than 300 flights were delayed, diverted or cancelled, stranding thousands of passengers across Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria and the Aosta Valley.
Engineers traced the outage to corrupted radar plot and weather-data transmissions. Limited service resumed by 22:15, but intermittent problems persisted until full stabilisation shortly after 23:00. Airlines rerouted long-haul arrivals to Zurich, Bologna and Rome; easyJet and Ryanair warned that knock-on delays would spill into Sunday.
![Radar Failure at Milan Air-Traffic Centre Halts Northwest Italy Flights]()
The incident highlights the fragility of Europe’s increasingly digitised air-traffic infrastructure. Italy completed a €750 million modernisation of its ACC network in 2023, yet Saturday’s meltdown exposed integration gaps between legacy and next-gen systems. Malpensa now handles 56 % more movements than in 2019, leaving little buffer when a single node fails.
Business impact was immediate: executives heading to automotive plants in Turin or fashion buyers bound for Milan’s trade fairs missed tight meeting windows, and perishables arriving by cargo suffered clearance delays. Logistics teams are revisiting contingency routings and considering higher-cost trucking from southern hubs.
ENAV has launched an internal investigation and informed EASA. The Transport Ministry has demanded an action plan within ten days and signalled possible penalties if redundancy protocols were not properly implemented. Travellers booked this week should monitor NOTAMs and allow extra connection time in northern Italy.
Engineers traced the outage to corrupted radar plot and weather-data transmissions. Limited service resumed by 22:15, but intermittent problems persisted until full stabilisation shortly after 23:00. Airlines rerouted long-haul arrivals to Zurich, Bologna and Rome; easyJet and Ryanair warned that knock-on delays would spill into Sunday.
The incident highlights the fragility of Europe’s increasingly digitised air-traffic infrastructure. Italy completed a €750 million modernisation of its ACC network in 2023, yet Saturday’s meltdown exposed integration gaps between legacy and next-gen systems. Malpensa now handles 56 % more movements than in 2019, leaving little buffer when a single node fails.
Business impact was immediate: executives heading to automotive plants in Turin or fashion buyers bound for Milan’s trade fairs missed tight meeting windows, and perishables arriving by cargo suffered clearance delays. Logistics teams are revisiting contingency routings and considering higher-cost trucking from southern hubs.
ENAV has launched an internal investigation and informed EASA. The Transport Ministry has demanded an action plan within ten days and signalled possible penalties if redundancy protocols were not properly implemented. Travellers booked this week should monitor NOTAMs and allow extra connection time in northern Italy.
