Virgin Blue delays as software goes down

The travel plans of thousands of Virgin Blue passengers were ruined today when the airline's check-in and reservation system crashed just after 8am (AEST), forcing staff to switch to a manual system as queues of frustrated passengers lengthened.

The computer problem had disrupted Virgin Blue flights at airports across the country, as well as the web check-in service and some Virgin Pacific international flights.

Virgin Blue urged passengers to delay non-essential travel for the rest of the day, and it pledged that those left stranded would be provided with a bed for tonight.

A spokesman for the airline said the system was still not operating at 7.30pm (AEST), and it was unclear what impact the stranded passengers would have on the airline's operations tomorrow.

"We hope the system will be up and running on Sunday evening ... what will happen with the schedule, at this stage it's too early to tell," spokesman Colin Lippiat said.

Earlier, Virgin Blue Group of Airlines group executive of corporate communications Danielle Keighery said the delays were unavoidable.

"The manual check-in process has meant that our customers regrettably have been inconvenienced with delays and flight cancellations," Ms Keighery said.

The technical difficulties were yet to be resolved.

The airline said Navitaire, the external supplier of its reservations and check-in systems, had a computer hardware failure which forced the switch to the slower manual check-in arrangements.

"I would like to take this opportunity to express my apologies," Ms Keighery said.

"Guests who have experienced a delay in excess of four hours will have their travel both reimbursed via a credit with the airline and transferred to another day and time.

"If your travel is not essential today, you should consider delaying travel to another day."