Cyberattack Disrupts Check-In Systems at Major European Airports

A cyberattack disrupted check-in and boarding systems at several major European airports, forcing manual check-in and boarding in the affected facilities. The disruptions were initially reported at Brussels, Berlin Brandenburg, and London Heathrow, with other European airports saying their operations remained unaffected.

According to Brussels Airport, there was a large impact on flight schedules after an attack on Friday night 19 September targeting the service provider for the check-in and boarding systems, and Collins Aerospace cited a cyber-related disruption to its MUSE software at select airports.

It was unclear who was behind the attack, though experts suggested hackers, criminal groups, or state actors could be involved, with travel analyst Paul Charles calling the incident a very clever cyberattack because it affected multiple airlines and airports simultaneously.

By mid-morning, Brussels reported nine flight cancellations, four diversions, and 15 delays of an hour or more, while Berlin-Brandenburg said operations had cut off connections to affected systems and Heathrow described the disruption as minimal. According to Associated Press.