Airport check-in systems worldwide failed for a short time yesterday, leading to disruptions in several major airports.

The disruption occurred at some of the busiest airports in the world, including Heathrow and Gatwick, Johannesburg, Changi in Singapore and Reagan National Airport in Washington, Zurich and Melbourne.

Passengers at these airports had to endure delays following the technical glitch from about 10.30am on Thursday.

The issue occurred after the Amadeus Altea software, which is used in check-in systems by 125 airlines, experienced network issues.

Hours later, Spanish travel technology firm Amadeus restored the systems. 

"Amadeus can confirm that our systems are recovered and are now functioning normally."

The Telegraph quoted Amadeus as saying shortly before 2.30pm: "Amadeus can confirm that our systems are recovered and are now functioning normally.

"During the morning, we experienced a network issue that caused disruption to some of our systems. As a result of the incident, customers experienced disruption to certain services.

"Our technical teams took immediate action to identify the cause of the issue and mitigate against the impact on customers. Amadeus regrets any inconvenience caused to customers."

Among the several carriers using the software include British Airways, France-KLM and Lufthansa.