A cyberattack on a check-in and boarding system provider disrupted operations at several major European airports, including London’s Heathrow, the busiest on the continent, causing flight delays and cancellations on Saturday.
Collins Aerospace, a global provider of systems to various airlines, is facing a technical issue that may cause departing passenger delays, according to Heathrow Airport, which had warned of potential delays.
Brussels Airport and Berlin Airport were also impacted, they reported separately. RTX, the parent company of Collins Aerospace, acknowledged a “cyber-related disruption” affecting its software at certain airports, without specifying which ones.
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Hours later, Dublin Airport reported minor impacts from the issue, along with Cork Airport, Ireland’s second-largest after Dublin.
Delays and cancellations
“The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations,” RTX said in a statement, noting that they are working to resolve the issue swiftly. No information was provided on the potential perpetrators of the attack.
At Heathrow, Berlin, and Brussels, 29 departures and arrivals have been canceled so far, according to aviation data provider Cirium. On Saturday, 651 departures were planned from Heathrow, 228 from Brussels, and 226 from Berlin.
This disruption is the latest in a series of increasingly sophisticated cyber and ransomware attacks targeting governments and companies worldwide, affecting sectors from healthcare and defense to retail and automotive. A recent breach at luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover halted production.
Germany’s federal office for information security, the BSI, stated it was in contact with Berlin Airport regarding “infrastructure disruptions” due to an outage affecting a global passenger handling system.
The attack has rendered automated systems inoperable, allowing only manual check-in and boarding procedures, Brussels Airport noted on its website, adding that the incident occurred on Friday night.
“This is significantly impacting the flight schedule and will unfortunately cause delays and cancellations,” they stated.
The airport mentioned that 10 flights were canceled thus far, with an average delay of one hour for all departing flights.
Passengers left in the dark
Passengers with flights scheduled for Saturday were advised by affected airports to confirm their travel with airlines before heading to the airport.
Tereza Pultarova, a journalist, spoke to BBC News from inside Heathrow, where she was scheduled to fly to Amsterdam at 6:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) for a connecting flight to Cape Town.
“Unfortunately, the airline I’m with… they don’t have a service desk here, so we’ve been left in the dark,” she said. “It’s been chaotic and quite frustrating for most people here,” she added.
Berlin Airport reported longer wait times at check-in and is working on a solution. Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s largest, was not affected, a spokesperson confirmed.
At Berlin Airport, Kim Reisen struggled with delays and lack of clarity, telling Reuters passengers were only informed of “a technical fault.”
Another traveler, Siegfried Schwarz, also from Berlin, said: “I find it inexplicable that, with today’s technology, there’s no way to defend against something like that.”
EasyJet, one of Europe’s largest airlines, said it was operating normally and did not anticipate the issue affecting its flights for the rest of the day.
Ryanair and British Airways owner IAG did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines expected minimal impact on flights departing from the three affected airports, noting it had implemented a workaround to minimize disruption. United Airlines reported “minor departure delays,” but no flight cancellations.
British transport minister Heidi Alexander stated she was receiving regular updates on the situation.
