Cyberattack disrupts European airports including Heathrow, Berlin

A cyberattack on a provider of check-in and boarding systems has disrupted operations at several major European airports, including London’s Heathrow, the continent’s busiest, causing flight delays and cancellations on Saturday.

Collins Aerospace, which provides systems for several airlines at airports globally, is experiencing a technical issue that may cause delays for departing passengers, Heathrow said.

Brussels Airport and Berlin Airport were also affected, they said separately. RTX, Collins Aerospace’s parent company, said it was aware of a “cyber-related disruption” to its MUSE software at selected airports, without naming them.

Hours later, Dublin Airport said it was also facing minor impact from the issue, along with Cork Airport, Ireland’s second biggest after Dublin.

“The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations,” RTX said in an emailed statement, adding that it was working to fix the issue as quickly as possible. It did not provide any information on who might be behind the attack.

At Heathrow, Berlin and Brussels, 29 departures and arrivals have been cancelled so far, aviation data provider Cirium said. In total, 651 departures were scheduled from Heathrow, 228 from Brussels and 226 from Berlin on Saturday.