Due to system outages, flights at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport are affected

Summary

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is experiencing internet outages, causing flight delays and long check-in lines.
The Port of Seattle has isolated critical systems and is working to restore normal operations following the power outage.
The new US-China flight route between Seattle and Haikou is scheduled to open on September 26.

Travellers and flights are affected by Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) due to internet and web system outages. Local transportation authorities have urged passengers to check with their respective airlines before heading to the airport. Data from FlightAware shows that over 69 flights were delayed and six were cancelled.

Port of Seattle offline

The Port of Seattle has confirmed that many systems were offline due to the power outage. Systems were reported down at 9 a.m. on Saturday and four hours later they were still struggling to get back up and running. Although the outage caused chaos with check-in systems, the airport remained open and although many flights were delayed, only a few were canceled.

Many passengers complained about long queues at check-in and there were reports of British Airways Passengers relying on handwritten boarding passes to board their plane. The airport said the system outage may have been due to a cyberattack, but the Port of Seattle has isolated all critical systems and is working around the clock to restore full service to all affected airlines.

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A recent Museum of Flight event highlighted the growth challenges facing Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

New flight to Haikou, China

As China Today reports, a new route between the United States and the People’s Republic of China is scheduled to open on September 26, connecting Seattle with Haikou, the capital of the southern Chinese province of Hainan.

A round-trip flight once a week requires a stopover at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (CKG); however, passengers travel to Haikou Meilan International Airport (HAK) on the same aircraft and flight number. The schedule is as follows:

Flight number	Out of	To	Departure time	The right timing
HU445	Haikou	Chongqing	07:00	09:10
HU445	Chongqing	Seattle	11:20	09:00
HU446	Seattle	Chongqing	11:00	16:00 + 1 day
HU446	Chongqing	Haikou	18:30	20:45

The total flight time from Haikou to Seattle is expected to be 17 hours, while the flight time from Seattle to Haikou is 18 hours and 45 minutes.

This will be the first time that China Eastern Airlines has been serving the US from Haikou, which is expected to promote trade on both sides of the Pacific. Hainan has mainly focused on launching new international air routes. Currently, the southern Chinese province has 46 international routes, with 62 expected by the end of 2024.

Source: GCMap

Hainan Airlines already flies directly to Chongqing from Seattle and offers nonstop connections to the Chinese capital Beijing. Other direct connections to Asia from Seattle are:

All Nippon Airways to Tokyo Haneda
Asiana Airlines, to Seoul Incheon
China Airlines, to Taipei Taoyuan
Delta Air Lines to Seoul Incheon, Shanghai Pudong, Taipei Taoyuan and Tokyo Haneda
EVA Air, to Taipei Taoyuan
Japan Airlines, to Tokyo Narita
Singapore Airlines to Singapore Changi
Starlux Airlines, to Taipei Taoyuan