European airports rush to restore normal flight operations after cyberattack

Some of Europe's largest airports were working frantically to restore normal flight operations today after hackers disrupted automated passenger check-in systems, Reuters reports.

Hackers attacked check-in and boarding system provider Collins Aerospace, owned by RTX, yesterday, causing problems at Heathrow, Berlin and Brussels airports, where passengers encountered long queues, cancellations and flight delays.

According to airport officials, disruptions had significantly reduced this morning, although some delays remained, while regulators said they were investigating the source of the cyberattack.

Brussels Airport said 45 of 257 scheduled outbound flights were canceled today, but that by adjusting operations they managed to keep waiting times under control.

"The delays are between 30 and 90 minutes," an airport spokesman told Reuters, adding that it was not yet clear how long the disruptions would last.

One passenger flying from Brussels said the disruptions for him were minimal: "For me, it was business as usual. Those unfortunate people who didn't check in online or had luggage to check in might have to wait longer."

This is the latest in a series of hacking attacks that have hit various sectors – from healthcare to the automotive industry.

A breach at the Jaguar Land Rover factory halted production, while a second attack caused losses of several hundred million pounds to Marks & Spencer.

RTX called the incident a "cyber-disruption" and said it affected its MUSE software, which is used by multiple airlines.

The company was not available for comment today, according to Reuters.

Berlin Brandenburg Airport said the problems were still ongoing but that it was working with the company to resolve them. It added that a manual solution had been implemented and that there were no major delays or cancellations.

Heathrow said this morning that it was continuing to restore the system, but that "the vast majority of flights continued to operate."

According to analysis by aviation data provider Cirium, delays at Heathrow Airport were "minor", in Berlin "moderate", while in Brussels they were "significant" but decreasing.