BRUSSELS (AP) – Extended to the second day of fallout Sunday from a cyberattack that affected check-in systems at several European airports.
Since the end of Friday, major airports in Brussels, London and Berlin have been hit with electronic systems disruptions that have told airline staff members who have usd check-in and are trying options such as using hand-made boarding passes and backup laptops. Many other European airports were not affected.
CyberTack has influenced Collins Aerospace’s software. The system helps passengers to check in, print boarding passes and bag tags and dispatch their luggage. The US-based company on Saturday cited “cyber-related confusion” over software at European “Select” airports.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the cyberattack, but experts said it could turn out to be a hacker, criminal organization or a state official.
The European Commission – the 27-national European Union administrative body – said aviation safety and air traffic control were not affected. Currently, the origins of the incident remained under investigation, but there were no signs of widespread or serious attacks.
The departure committees at London’s Heathrow and Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport had shown more smooth arrivals and signs of departure on Sunday, but Brussels Airport was still facing considerable problems.
Brussels Airport spokesperson Isan Chioua Lekli said 45 outbound and 30 inbound flights were cancelled on Sunday, with more than double the number cancelled from the day before.
The cyberattacks only affected the computer systems at the check-in desk rather than the self-service kiosk, and the team turned to alternative backup systems and helped pull out laptop computers to deal with the impact.
It remains unclear when the situation will be locked in, she said: “At this point, we’re not thinking about timing. We’re taking it every day.”
The airport advised passengers to check the flight status before moving to the airport and use an alternative check-in method.
“Work continues to resolve and recover from Collins Aerospace Systems Friday outages that affected check-in,” a Heathrow statement said. “I apologize to anyone facing delays, but working with the airlines keeps the majority of flights open.”
A slow Sunday message on the Brandenburg airport web page said, “System outages at service providers will result in longer wait times. Please use online check-in, self-service check-in, and fast bag drop service.”
Collins, an aviation and defense technology company that is a subsidiary of RTX Corp., formerly Raytheon Technologies, said it was working to resolve the issue on Saturday.
“The impact is limited to electronic customers check-in and baggage drops, and can be mitigated by manual check-in operations,” the statement said.
