From 6am this morning, Friday 16 October, fewer planes than expected may pass through Italian skies. A series of anomalies in the data transmission network used for air traffic control has pushed ENAV to temporarily reduce the capacity of the national airspace. A measure taken to maintain safety standards while technicians try to locate and resolve the fault.
ENAV has ruled out that the anomalies are attributable to “malicious activity”. At the moment, therefore, there are no elements that suggest a cyber attack. The precise technical cause of the malfunction, however, has not yet been disclosed.
In the early hours of the morning, a consolidated national toll of canceled or delayed flights was not yet available. However, the reduction in capacity can produce chain delays at Italian airports, because the system has to handle fewer aircraft in the same time interval. In short, the sky remains open, but with a narrower funnel.
What happened to the ENAV network
ENAV is the provider of civil air traffic control services in Italy and manages the infrastructure, systems and communications necessary for controllers to follow aircraft in the national airspace.
The problem reported this morning concerns the data transmission network supporting these services. Faced with an infrastructure that does not function in the expected conditions, the operational response also consists of decreasing the number of flights managed simultaneously. It means spacing out operations further and slowing down flows, with effects that can spread far beyond the airport where a single passenger must depart.
The exclusion of a hacker attack therefore clarifies part of the story, without yet explaining what caused the anomalies. ENAV is continuing its checks on this.
A recent precedent shows how quickly a connectivity problem can impact traffic. On 28 June 2025, a failure in the transmission of radar data at the Milan Area Control Center affected both the main and reserve links. ENAV then activated an emergency satellite connection and suspended new take-offs and entries into the North-West airspace for around two hours, before progressively restoring it. Today’s dynamics should not automatically be superimposed on that episode: at the moment the same cause has not been indicated.
Today there is also the easyJet strike
The day of air transport was already complicated before the breakdown. easyJet flight staff are affected by a 24-hour national strike today and ENAC is making information on guaranteed flights available.
However, the two events must remain separate. The failure of the ENAV network is a technical problem that occurred this morning; the easyJet strike was planned. Furthermore, in the official strike calendar of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport there is no national strike by ENAV staff today.
For those who have to leave it means something very practical: a delay or cancellation can have different causes even on the same day. Better to check the status of the individual flight on the company’s website or app before traveling to the airport.
What passengers are entitled to in the event of delays or cancellations
In the event of cancellation, European Regulation 261/2004 provides the possibility to choose, depending on the case, between ticket refund and alternative flight, as well as assistance during the wait. The situation with additional economic compensation is different. The regulation also considers an air traffic management decision among the circumstances that may be exceptional: if the company demonstrates that the delay or cancellation depends on a circumstance of this type and that reasonable measures have been taken, financial compensation may not be due.
Refund, re-protection and assistance follow distinct rules. For now the priority remains the restoration of the ENAV network. Until then flights will continue to be operated with reduced capacity. And for an already quite crowded morning with departures, strikes and connections, this was definitely enough.
