Air travellers are facing another day of disruption at several European airports including Heathrow due to a cyber-attack that knocked out essential check-in and baggage systems.
On Saturday, there were hundreds of delays reported as the software used by several airlines failed, forcing impacted airports to board passengers using pen and paper. Brussels Airport indicated that it had no indication yet of when the system would resume normal operations, leading to the cancellation of half of departing flights.
RTX, the company behind the software provider Collins Aerospace, acknowledged the cyber-related disruption and expressed hopes for a swift resolution. The Muse software, which enables different airlines to operate from shared check-in desks and gates, was identified as the affected system.
While Heathrow is working to resolve the issues, it has apologized for the delays, stating that “the vast majority of flights have continued to operate.” Passengers are advised to check flight statuses regularly and arrive at the airport on time.
Brussels Airport is also facing significant challenges, having canceled 44 flights by Sunday and anticipating prolonged queues at check-in counters. Eurocontrol has requested airlines to cut flights by 50% until 02:00 on Monday due to the ongoing disruption.
As the situation develops, airports like Dublin expect to maintain full schedules, while Berlin Brandenburg Airport urges travelers to use online or self-service check-in during the outage. The cyber incident echoes similar vulnerabilities highlighted during previous IT disruptions in the aviation sector, drawing attention to the industry's reliance on digital systems.
The National Cyber Security Centre is coordinating with Collins Aerospace and affected airports to understand the full scope of the impact, while the European Commission is monitoring the situation closely.
