Airports across Europe scrambled to recover on Sunday after a cyberattack crippled check-in systems, leaving passengers stranded in long queues and forcing widespread cancellations.
The attack targeted Collins Aerospace, a US-based supplier of airline check-in and boarding software owned by RTX. The outage disrupted operations at several major hubs, including London’s Heathrow, Berlin Brandenburg, and Brussels Airport.
While officials in London and Berlin said services had largely stabilised by Sunday evening, Brussels was still struggling. The airport ordered airlines to cancel half of Monday’s departures, citing ongoing software failures.
“Collins Aerospace has not yet delivered a secure, updated version of the software,” a Brussels Airport spokesperson said, adding that the decision to cancel flights was aimed at avoiding last-minute chaos. On Sunday, 50 of 257 scheduled departures were cancelled, following 25 cancellations the previous day.
Collins said it was “in the final stages” of completing the updates needed to restore full service. The company added that airlines could still process passengers manually, though this has slowed operations significantly.
The company’s MUSE software, used by several international carriers, was the main system affected. RTX, Collins’s parent company, said it was working with airports and airline partners “to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
At Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, officials said “the vast majority of flights have continued to operate” despite the disruption. An aviation data analysis by Cirium reported “low” levels of delays at Heathrow, “moderate” in Berlin, and “significant” in Brussels.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport acknowledged some persistent issues but said workarounds had kept operations largely on track. “Occasionally, there are longer waiting times at check-in, boarding, baggage handling and baggage reclaim. Delays today are in line with a normal operating day,” it said in a statement.
Passengers reported mixed experiences. One traveller flying out of Brussels told reporters his journey was unaffected. “For me, it was business as usual. For those poor souls who didn’t do online check-in or have bags to check, they may be waiting a bit,” he said.
European regulators said they were investigating the source of the attack, part of a broader wave of cyber incidents across industries ranging from healthcare to automotive manufacturing. Earlier this year, Jaguar Land Rover halted production after a breach, while Marks & Spencer reported losses in the hundreds of millions of pounds linked to another hack.
The latest disruption has sharpened concerns about vulnerabilities in the aviation industry, where reliance on a handful of technology providers leaves airlines and passengers exposed when systems fail.
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