Geneva Airport has begun gradually resuming flights after an unspecified "technical malfunction" closed down Switzerland's airspace for safety reasons on Wednesday, authorities said.
Skyguide, the country's air navigation service, initially said the closure would be in effect "until further notice" after the malfunction early in the morning.
"The Swiss air navigation service provider Skyguide experienced a technical malfunction in the early hours of this morning, which is why Swiss airspace has been closed to traffic for safety reasons," the Geneva-based company earlier said in a statement.
A few hours later, it said the airspace closure was lifted at 8:30 a.m. (6:30 a.m. GMT; 2:30 a.m. EDT) and air traffic over Switzerland was resuming along with operations at the country's two national airports in Geneva and Zurich.
"Good news! Air traffic has gradually resumed since 8:30 a.m. (6:30 a.m. GMT)," Geneva airport said in a tweet, adding that "several flights have been canceled. Passengers should check with their airlines if their flights are maintained."
"Skyguide regrets this incident and its consequences for its customers and partners, as well as for the passengers at the two national airports," it said in a statement.
A spokesman for Skyguide could not be immediately reached for comment by phone or text message.
"We now expect flight operations to resume at reduced capacity before midday," Zurich airport said in statement, advising passengers to check information provided by airlines before departing for the airport. It added that check-in was continuing.
Earlier, Geneva's airport said in a tweet that it was grounding all of its flights until 11 a.m (9 a.m. GMT) because of the computer failure.
The Swiss news agency ATS-Keystone said international flights to Switzerland were being rerouted to Milan.
