System failure grounds Brazil flights

Travel chaos hit passengers flying to and from three of Brazil's major airports last night, as an air traffic communications system broke down causing nearly all departures to be cancelled.

Brasilia and Belo Horizonte's airports were the worst affected by the system failure but passengers at Sao Paulo's airport, which handles domestic flights, also suffered severe delays.

The problem was put down to a failure in Brasilia's communication system making it hard to get in contact with pilots in some of the country's busiest airspaces, news agency Agencia Brasil told AP.

Brazil's aviation industry has been found wanting of late: last September, 154 people were killed as a passenger jet collided with an executive aircraft from the US. An investigation into the disaster is ongoing and the American pilots concerned have only recently been allowed to travel back home.

Flights are expected to get back to normal today but passengers are advised to check their flight times with their respective airlines.