Disruption at European airports expected to continue through Sunday
Europe’s major international airports felt the impact of a cyberattack on a provider of check-in and boarding systems, with flight cancellations and delays experienced across the region. The disruptions are expected to continue on Sunday.
Although disruption has eased by Sunday, some delays are still experienced in different airports. Heathrow Airport, Brussels Airport, and Berlin Airport were among those affected, as well as Dublin Airport and Cork Airport.
On Sunday, Heathrow Airport announced that it is still trying “to resolve and recover” from the attack, apologizing to customers for the inconvenience. However, according to the airport, "the vast majority of flights have continued to operate."
Berlin Brandenburg Airport also said that issues persisted, although it was working with the company to resolve them. It further said that there are no major delays or cancellations, as a manual workaround is in place.
Brussels Airport updated its customers on Sunday that the cyberattack was having a "large impact on the flight schedule,” addressing delays and cancellations. It had asked airlines to cancel half of their scheduled departing flights on Sunday to mitigate possible disruptions.
Dublin Airport also added in a customer update that some airlines in Terminal 2 are continuing “to use manual workarounds to generate bag tags and boarding passes. This means that the check-in and bag drop processes may take slightly longer than normal.”
According to aviation data provider Cirium, cited by Reuters, delays at Heathrow were "low", Berlin had "moderate" delays, while Brussels had "significant" delays, which are now improving.
The cyberattack on Collins Aerospace, a check-in and boarding systems provider, affected check-in and baggage drop at various airports.
"The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations," RTX, Collins Aerospace's parent company, said in an emailed statement, according to Reuters.
Across Heathrow, Berlin, and Brussels, 29 departures and arrivals have been cancelled, with Brussels Airport experiencing 10 flight cancellations, with an average delay of one hour.
According to a European Commission spokesperson, the incident is currently under investigation, although there is no evidence of a "widespread or severe attack".
