A cyberattack on a service provider for check-in and boarding systems has disrupted operations at several major European airports, including in Brussels, Berlin, and London, causing delays and cancellations, airport operators said on Saturday.
Brussels Airport announced on Friday evening that it had been affected by a cyberattack that had disrupted its check-in and boarding services. A statement from the Belgian capital’s airport said the attack had targeted the service provider, affecting multiple European airports, and that as a result, check-in and boarding could only be done manually.
“The airport is working hard to resolve the problem as quickly as possible,” the statement said, warning that this would significantly impact the flight schedule and lead to delays and cancellations.
London’s Heathrow Airport also warned of delays caused by a “technical issue” with a service provider. British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said on Saturday she was receiving regular updates on the incident.
“Due to a technical malfunction at a Europe-wide system provider, there are longer waiting times at check-in. We are working on a quick solution,” Berlin Airport said in a statement on its website.
Dublin Airport also announced that it had evacuated Terminal 2 as a precautionary measure, adding that flights “may be temporarily affected.” Frankfurt Airport, however, was not affected by the attack, a spokesperson said.
LIMITED IMPACT
Despite the disruptions, British airline easyJet said it did not expect the issue to affect its flight schedule for the rest of Saturday. “We are aware of an IT system issue affecting a small number of airports. While we are currently operating as normal and do not expect this to impact our flying programme for the rest of the day, we continue to monitor the situation closely,” a spokesperson for the airline said.
RTX, the owner of U.S. aerospace company Collins Aerospace, said the impact was limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop-off and that it could be “mitigated by manual check-in processes.”
“We are aware of a cyber disruption to our MUSE application at select airports. We are actively working to resolve the issue to restore full functionality as soon as possible,” the company said in a statement.
