South Pacific/Oceania: Air travel, rail, and business disruptions due to IT outage continue as of July 19

As of July 19, a global IT outage affecting Microsoft cloud services has prompted widespread travel and business disruptions across the South Pacific and Oceania regions. A cybersecurity update reportedly triggered the interruptions. Although Microsoft has begun deploying a fix to the issue, it is unclear when services will return to normal.

Multiple airports across the region, including those in Australia and New Zealand, are experiencing delays and suspensions of online processing systems. Various airlines, such as Virgin Australia (VA) and Qantas (QF), are also impacted, leading to delays. The outage is also affecting other airlines globally, with multiple American carriers grounding flights. Additional flight delays and cancellations are probable in the coming hours. Lingering disruptions are likely after normal services resume as airlines work to clear backlogs.

Shipping firms have reported onshore and offshore device issues, though no significant shipping delays are ongoing in the region as of July 19. However, system outages at container terminals and ports cannot be ruled out.

Related communication issues are prompting major rail service delays in parts of Australia as of the evening of July 19. Additional train services in other countries may face delays or cancelations in the coming hours. Increased demand for alternative transport services are likely to intensify during peak hours in cities.

Banking services such as app-based transactions and ATM functions, telecommunications, television broadcasting, postal, and retail services are also disrupted in various areas, in addition to workplace devices and websites including media channels and government agencies. Business closures and further suspension of services, especially cloud and app-based services, are likely until the situation normalizes.