BRUSSELS • Around half of all flights in Europe faced delays yesterday after a technical glitch at Eurocontrol, which runs the EU's air traffic control system.

"Today 29,500 flights were expected in the European network. Approximately half of those could have some delay as a result of the system outage," a Eurocontrol statement said.

The agency put in contingency measures as a result, but the failure meant flight plans filed by airlines before 1026 GMT were lost. This led to restrictions on the number of departures.

"Air traffic control has not been directly affected and there are no safety implications arising from this incident," Eurocontrol said. It later said the issue had been identified but it would take until late yesterday evening to recover the system.

Several airports across the continent, including Schiphol, Brussels and Helsinki, also warned of travel delays. Brussels airport said departures were limited to 10 flights an hour. The airport manages 650 flights a day.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS