Europe’s busiest airports, including London’s Heathrow, Berlin Brandenburg, and Brussels Airport, experienced major operational disruptions over the weekend following a cyberattack on Collins Aerospace, the provider of their check-in and boarding systems. The attack, which occurred on Saturday, caused long passenger queues, flight cancellations, and delays, creating widespread travel chaos. Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, along with Berlin and Brussels, scrambled to restore normal operations, while passengers and airlines faced uncertainty about schedules and boarding procedures.
By early Sunday, disruptions had eased considerably, although some delays continued as airports worked to stabilize operations. Regional regulators launched investigations to determine the origin and extent of the cyberattack, highlighting growing concerns over cybersecurity in critical transport infrastructure. Collins Aerospace, owned by RTX, confirmed that its MUSE software, used by multiple airlines, had been impacted, though the company did not provide immediate additional comments.
Berlin authorities noted that problems persisted but emphasized that a manual workaround had been implemented to mitigate delays and cancellations. Brussels Airport acknowledged the significant impact on its flight schedule but reported gradual improvement. Heathrow indicated that while work was ongoing to recover from the system outage, the vast majority of flights continued as scheduled. Aviation data from Cirium showed that delays at Heathrow were relatively low, Berlin experienced moderate delays, and Brussels faced the most significant delays, though all were steadily decreasing as recovery efforts progressed.
This incident reflects a broader trend of cyberattacks affecting critical sectors across Europe, including automotive manufacturing and retail, underlining the vulnerability of key infrastructure to digital disruptions. The Collins Aerospace breach joins recent high-profile hacks, such as those impacting Jaguar Land Rover and Marks & Spencer, which caused substantial financial and operational losses.
