Brussels – A significant cyberattack targeting a service provider for check-in and boarding systems has caused flight delays and cancellations at major airports across Europe, including London Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin, reports 24brussels.
This disruption stems from a technical failure at Collins Aerospace, a third-party system affecting multiple airlines globally. Affected airports reported serious operational impacts, with Brussels Airport confirming that the automated systems have failed, necessitating manual check-in and boarding procedures.
Heathrow Airport warned passengers of delays while Berlin Airport noted the longer waiting times, recommending that travelers check with their airlines before heading to the airport on Saturday. Collins Aerospace is actively working to resolve the technical issues.
“This has a large impact on the flight schedule and will, unfortunately, cause delays and cancellations of flights…The service provider is actively working on the issue and trying to resolve the problem as quickly as possible,”
London Heathrow and Berlin airports have confirmed ongoing disruptions. The cyberattack highlights vulnerabilities within the aviation sector, raising questions about the security of critical aviation infrastructure.
Collins Aerospace, headquartered in the United States, is a subsidiary of RTX, which also owns Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon. The firm is responsible for providing advanced check-in and boarding systems to numerous airlines worldwide, including those currently facing disruptions.
How does this incident compare to the 2024 outage?
This incident mirrors the events of July 2024, when a software failure linked to CrowdStrike led to a global IT crisis, resulting in over 1,000 flight cancellations and substantial operational challenges across multiple sectors, including aviation and banking.
The 2024 outage led to widespread systemic failures at major airports, including Heathrow, Luton, and Amsterdam Schiphol, showcasing how interdependent the aviation infrastructure is on third-party software providers.