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Cyber-attack Disrupts Hundreds of Flights at European Airports

Elizabeth Greenberg

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cyber-attack airports
Passengers faced delayed and disrupted flights as a third-party system faces a cyber-attack causing major delays to check-in and boarding systems. 

Air travellers faced delays and disruptions across European airports after a cyber-attack – which was confirmed by the EU’s cybersecurity agency – affected Collins Aerospace, the technical system behind check-ins and baggage systems in several key airports.

The The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) confirmed that the incident was a cyber-attack, though it has yet to confirm the origins of the attack as it works with Collins Aerospace.

Ransomware has been identified, however, the ENISA told Reuters.

Passengers attempting to board flights in Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin airports waited hours to check in to their flights as the software failed as a result of the attack.

RTX owns Collins Aerospace, which said it was “aware of a cyber-related disruption” to systems in “selected airports,” saying that it aimed to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

The incident began causing delays and disruptions on Saturday, but continued to affect flights on Sunday.

The firm’s Muse software had been affected, interrupting the ability of different airlines to use the same check-in desks and boarding gates across airports, rather their their own specific ones. This technology can be key in mitigating delays if flights are disrupted or averted to other gates, and can optimise check-in systems.

On Sunday, the firm said it would “provide details as soon as they are available,” still yet to have disclosed publicly what affected the system or how long airports would be disrupted.

As Collins Aerospace is “not yet able to deliver a new secure version of the check-in system,” the company said that disruptions would continue into today (Monday).


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Heathrow has been affected in the incident, and has so far declined to call the event a cyber-attack.

While it offered apologies to those affected by the disruption, it did urge passengers to check their flight status prior to arriving to the airport as “the vast majority of flights have continued to operate.”

Heathrow managed to get half of the airlines operating out of it back online by Sunday, according to the BBC, but Berlin Airport is still boarding passengers manually, a spokesperson told the BBC.

Elizabeth Greenberg

Staff Writer

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