Flight chaos continues as cyber attack cripples airports

Passengers check flight information displays at Berlin Brandenburg Airport during cyber-attack disruption affecting European airports (Illustrative image) (Photo by TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images) Getty Images

Air travellers face a second day of chaos at major European airports after a cyber attack crippled check-in systems. The disruption began Friday night when hackers targeted Collins Aerospace's Muse software, forcing airlines to resort to pen and paper processing.

Heathrow experienced significant delays on Saturday, with 47% of departing flights affected according to FlightAware data. Passengers endured hours-long queues as staff manually checked in travellers, with some processing reduced to one passenger every 10 minutes at certain desks.

Brussels Airport cancelled 44 departing flights on Sunday and asked airlines to reduce schedules by half until Monday 02:00. The airport warned passengers to expect continued long queues and delays as manual check-in procedures remain in place.

Recovery efforts continue

British Airways operations at Heathrow remained largely unaffected due to backup systems. The airline continued normal operations while most other carriers serving the airport struggled with the outage.

Collins Aerospace, owned by RTX, confirmed it was working to resolve the "cyber-related disruption" affecting its Muse software at select airports. The system enables multiple airlines to share check-in desks and boarding gates rather than requiring dedicated facilities.

Berlin Brandenburg Airport advised passengers to use online or self-service check-in to avoid affected desk systems. Dublin Airport reported some airlines continued manual processing but expected to operate a full Sunday schedule.

Security concerns emerge

The incident highlights aviation industry vulnerabilities, coming just months after the CrowdStrike software failure grounded flights globally in July. Only the Daily Mail reports that Collins Aerospace's supply contracts with Ukrainian military forces could potentially make it a Russian cyber target.

European Commission officials confirmed no indication the attack was "widespread or severe," with air traffic control and safety systems remaining operational. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was monitoring the situation with regular updates.

The National Cyber Security Centre worked with Collins Aerospace, affected airports and law enforcement to assess the full impact. Aviation safety organisation Eurocontrol coordinated flight schedule reductions to manage the ongoing disruption.

Sources used: "BBC", "The Standard", "MyLondon", "Independent", "Daily Record", "City A.M", "Daily Mail" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.