Major European airports including Brussels, London Heathrow and two German travel hubs were Saturday hit by “cyber-related disruption” affecting check-in and baggage drop systems and causing delays and cancellations.
“Cyber-related disruption” is affecting check-in and baggage drop systems and causing delays at multiple airports across Europe, airport service provider Collins Aerospace told AFP.
“We have become aware of a cyber-related disruption to our MUSE software in select airports,” the aerospace firm said, after at least three busy European air hubs reported facing disruption and warned of delays.
“The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations,” Collins Aerospace added.
A spokesperson told The Independent: “We are actively working to resolve the issue and restore full functionality to our customers as quickly as possible.
“The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations. We will share more details as they are available.”
The suspected cyber-attack has crashed automated systems, with a “technical issue” affecting software, according to BBC reporting
Reports from Belgian channel RTBF suggest that at least nine flights have been cancelled so far, where some 35,000 passengers were expected to travel from Brussels on Saturday.
Only manual check-in and boarding was taking place at the Brussels air hub, which advised passengers flying on Saturday to check their flight status with airlines before going to the airport.
A banner on the Berlin Airport website read: “due to a technical issue at a system provider operating across Europe, there are longer waiting times at check-in.”
Münster/Osnabrück Airport has also been “indirectly affected”, reports from Sky News suggest.
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It said in a statement, the northwestern airport said: “Munster/Osnabruck Airport was only indirectly affected by the technical malfunction of the external system provider. As a preventive measure, we have redirected our handling systems to our internal IT infrastructure, ensuring a smooth operational process for arrivals and departures.
“As of now, operations are running without restrictions, and all flights were able to depart from FMO on schedule last night.”
London Heathrow has also been impacted by the attack.
London’s Heathrow Airport — the busiest in Europe — said its check-in and boarding systems, also provided by Collins Aerospace, were hit by a “technical issue” that “may cause delays for departing passengers”.
