Holidaymakers in Tenerife Sur Airport faced long waits to get through to their flights today as staff handed out water to fed-up passengers delayed by the global IT outage.
Hundreds of tired holidaymakers were forced to endure long snaking queues while airline staff did their best to shout out details of flights from their clipboards.
TUI staff were seen handing out water to make disgruntled customers as comfortable as possible as they waited to check in.
Gary Lishman, 46, from Falkirk, said: “It’s a pain but I think it could have been much worse and things do seem to be moving albeit slowly. It’s more like controlled chaos than anything else.
“Ultimately it’s not their fault so everyone’s just trying their best to go on with it you know.”
Although Michael Blythe, from Ireland, joked: “It’s the last thing you need with a hangover but then that’s my fault isn’t it.”
More than 1,400 flights have been cancelled as a result of the major IT outrage that caused chaos around the world.
The IT glitch has also affected banking, healthcare, and shops. Many GP surgeries in England say they are experiencing issues, according to the NHS.
The cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike said a “defect” in one of its software updates hit Windows operating systems and caused the outrage.
A fix has been deployed, the company says, but admits it “could be some time” before systems are fully back up and running.
Crowdstrike boss George Kurtz told NBC News: “We know what the issue is … and have resolved it.
“It could be some time for some systems that just automatically won’t recover, but it is our mission… to make sure every customer is fully recovered.”
He added the company was “deeply sorry” for the distress and inconvenience it has caused.
Telsa boss Elon Musk called the outrage the “biggest IT fail ever” in a post to his X social media account.
Earlier today, the UK government held a Cobra meeting and said its business was seemingly unaffected by the glitch.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said ministers are being regularly updated on the outage, and te government is “working closely with the respective sectors and industries on this issue”.