A cyberattack targeting check-in and boarding systems has disrupted air traffic and caused delays at some of Europe’s busiest airports.
Some operations at a number of airports, including London’s Heathrow, were taken offline on Saturday after a service provider’s software was hit in the attack.
Heathrow airport, the United Kingdom’s largest and one of the busiest internationally, said Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in and boarding systems for several airlines across multiple airports globally, “is experiencing a technical issue that may cause delays for departing passengers”.
“While the provider works to resolve the problem quickly, we advise passengers to check their flight status with their airline before travelling,” it said.
Collins Aerospace is a major aerospace and military company based in the United States, and a subsidiary of weaponsmaker RTX Corporation – formerly Raytheon Technologies. RTX said it was aware of a “cyber-related disruption” to its software in select airports, without naming them.
“The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations,” the company said in a statement, adding that it was working to fix the issue as quickly as possible.
Brussels and Berlin airports separately confirmed they were also affected by the attack, which rendered automated systems inoperable, allowing only manual check-in and boarding procedures.
“This has a large impact on the flight schedule and will unfortunately cause delays and cancellations of flights,” Brussels airport said, adding that the cyberattack occurred on Friday night.
“Due to a technical issue at a system provider … there are longer waiting times at check-in. We are working on a quick solution,” Berlin airport said in a banner on its website.
Frankfurt airport, Germany’s largest, was not affected, a spokesperson said. An official from the operations control centre at Zurich airport also said it had not been affected.
The Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, also known as Roissy, along with Orly and Le Bourget airports in the Paris area, reported no disruptions.
No group, individual, or state actor has claimed responsibility for the cyberattack, and a motive is yet to be confirmed. There has been no confirmed instance of data theft related to the attack.
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