Air travel across several European airports, including London Heathrow, continues to face disruption after a cyber-attack disabled a key check-in and baggage system. Hundreds of flights were delayed on Saturday, forcing airlines to resort to manual check-ins and boarding procedures using pen and paper.
Brussels Airport has announced that it remains unclear when its system will be fully restored and has asked airlines to cancel about half of their departing flights scheduled for Monday. The software affected, Collins Aerospace’s Muse system, allows multiple airlines to share check-in desks and boarding gates. The company has confirmed the disruption but has not specified the cause or how long it might last, promising further updates.
Heathrow Airport reported that recovery efforts are ongoing, though it did not explicitly confirm the cyber-attack. Airport officials urged passengers to check flight statuses before travelling and noted that the majority of flights continue to operate. By Sunday, about half of the airlines at Heathrow, including British Airways, were using backup systems to resume operations.
Passengers have faced long queues and significant delays. For instance, Naomi Rowan from Sudbury, Suffolk, was forced to stay in a hotel with her dog after her Air France flight from Heathrow was disrupted. Eurocontrol, Europe’s aviation safety organization, advised airlines to cancel half of their flights until early Monday. Other airports, including Dublin and Berlin Brandenburg, have implemented manual or self-service check-ins to minimize delays.
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre is coordinating with Collins Aerospace, affected airports, the Department for Transport, and law enforcement to assess the situation. Meanwhile, the European Commission and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander are closely monitoring the incident. Analysts have highlighted that incidents like this underline the vulnerability of aviation to software failures and cyber-attacks, following a similar global IT crash last year.
