Poland’s internal security agency has launched an investigation into a recent technical failure in the country’s air traffic control (ATC) system, which on Saturday caused significant disruptions and widespread flight delays across multiple airports, including major hubs in Warsaw, Kraków, and Gdańsk. While the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) stated the outage was due to an unspecified technical malfunction and that the primary system has since been restored, national security services are exploring the possibility of sabotage. This heightened scrutiny comes amidst a period of elevated alert in Poland concerning suspected acts of sabotage linked to Russia.
The incident saw Poland’s airspace restrictions imposed and numerous departures halted as the primary air traffic management system went offline. PANSA confirmed that it swiftly transitioned to a backup system, ensuring the continued safety of operations, before successfully addressing the issue with the main system. However, authorities have been tight-lipped about the specific technical details of the malfunction, citing national security concerns given the critical nature of the infrastructure. The Interior Ministry spokesperson, Jacek Dobrzyński, confirmed the Internal Security Agency is “collecting information, analyzing it, and verifying it for potential sabotage,” while also cautioning against the spread of disinformation.
Although no flights were ultimately canceled, the technical glitch led to a ripple effect of delays throughout Poland’s air travel network.
Warsaw’s Chopin Airport reported dozens of delayed departures, and similar disruptions were experienced at Kraków, Gdańsk, and Katowice airports. A spokesperson for LOT Polish Airlines indicated that these delays were expected to persist throughout the day, despite the national carrier not having canceled any connections. This widespread impact underscores the severity of even a temporary disruption to such critical infrastructure.
The investigation unfolds against a backdrop of increasing tensions between Poland and Russia, with Polish authorities expressing growing concerns over potential Russian interference. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused Moscow of planning “air terror” operations globally, including potential sabotage within Polish territory. More recently, in May, Poland ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Kraków, citing evidence of Russian intelligence involvement in a significant fire in Warsaw.
These incidents highlight a pattern of suspected Russian-backed destabilization efforts.
Further underscoring these concerns, a 2023 cyberattack, believed to be orchestrated by hackers operating from Belarus in support of Russia, breached Poland’s national railway communication system, bringing train traffic to a standstill for several hours. These prior incidents, coupled with warnings from other European nations like France and the United Kingdom about Russian hybrid threats and destabilization efforts, contribute to the seriousness with which Polish authorities are approaching the air traffic control system outage. The ongoing investigation aims to determine whether this latest disruption is another instance of external interference targeting Poland’s critical infrastructure.
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