A Lufthansa spokesperson reported on Wednesday a company-wide system fault, with massive delays and disruptions in airlines resulting from the failure.

Lufthansa said construction work on a rail line in Frankfurt was to blame for the massive IT failure,.

The company cited a statement by German network provider Telekom explaining that several glass-fiber cables were damaged in Frankfurt during the rail construction work, disrupting operations worldwide.

The company added that the complete fixing of the cable disruptions would likely take until Wednesday afternoon.

Who was affected by the system fault?

All of Lufthansa's departures from Frankfurt airport were stopped, as systems for check-in and boarding were interrupted.

German air traffic control was temporarily re-routing all aircrafts landing in Frankfurt airport to other destinations such as Cologne, Düsseldorf and Nürnberg because of the breakdown. The measure is intended to prevent the hub from filling up, an air traffic control spokesperson confirmed.

Take-offs, on the other hand, were still possible in Frankfurt. Lufthansa's second-biggest hub, Munich, was not restricted by air traffic control at this point in time. If problems persisted, this could become an option, a spokesperson of air traffic control said.

International flights were also affected by the failure, leading to many passengers potentially missing their connecting flights.

Passengers and aircraft staff alike were stranded at Frankfurt airport. A spokesperson in Frankfurt said that the company was intensively working on a solution. Other airports in Germany seemed to be less affected.

Reuters reported that Lufthansa's shares were down by 1.2% following the system fault.