Airport passengers are facing another day of flight delays across Europe as major airports still grapple with the fallout from a cyberattack on a company that develops software for passenger check-in and boarding.
Points of attention
- Europe's largest airports are facing flight delays for the third day in a row due to a cyberattack on Collins Aerospace, disrupting passenger check-in and boarding systems.
- Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of US company RTX, is working with affected airports and airlines to restore full functionality after being targeted by ransomware.
- Airports in Brussels, Dublin, and Berlin are still experiencing delays as staff resort to manual data processing in the aftermath of the cyberattack.
Large-scale cyberattack caused collapse at Europe's largest airports
Several of Europe's largest airports are still struggling to resume normal operations after a cyberattack disrupted Collins Aerospace's automated passenger check-in and boarding software on Friday.
The company, which is a subsidiary of US aerospace and defense company RTX, said on Monday that it is working with the four affected airports and airlines and is in the final stages of the upgrade needed to restore full functionality.
The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) said on September 22 that Collins had been attacked by ransomware, a type of cyberattack in which hackers effectively lock down data and systems in an attempt to extort a ransom from the victim.
Airports in Brussels, Dublin and Berlin are also experiencing delays as the aftermath of the cyberattack forces airline staff to rely on manual data processing.
A Brussels airport spokesman said Collins Aerospace had not yet confirmed that the system was safe again. On Monday, 40 of 277 departures and 23 of 277 arrivals were cancelled.
A Heathrow spokesperson said that “the vast majority of flights at Heathrow are operating as normal, although check-in and boarding for some flights may take slightly longer than usual.” Passengers were advised to check their flight status before travelling to the airport and to “arrive no earlier than three hours before departure for long-haul flights and two hours before departure for short-haul flights.”
A Dublin Airport spokesman said no flights were expected to be cancelled on Monday due to IT problems, but did not rule out the possibility.
On the stock markets, shares in some airlines fell in early trading on Monday, with shares in British Airways owner IAG falling 1.2%, easyJet shares down 1.4% and Wizz Air shares down 1.1%.
