Thousands of travellers have faced major flight disruption and cancellations after a cyberattack wreaked havoc on systems at airports across Europe.
Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin airports are among those impacted by the attack on Collins Aerospace, a company that provides check-in and baggage drop systems for major transport hubs, with dozens of flights cancelled across the three sites.
Huge, hours-long queues were reported as flights to key travel destinations, including Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Paris, were hit by delays and cancellations. Passengers at Heathrow and Brussels were warned to check their flight status with their airline before heading to the airport.
Travel experts said the cyberattack was “deeply concerning” and warned flights could be disrupted for days if the issue wasn’t solved quickly.
Passengers are also facing delays at Dublin airport after Terminal 2 was evacuated due to a security alert. The terminal has since reopened.
Tereza Pultarova, a journalist from London, was one of the thousands of passengers affected at Heathrow, where at least 13 flights had been cancelled by Saturday afternoon.
She told The Independent she was unsure whether she would make a press trip to see the Square Kilometre Array Telescope in South Africa, after she missed her connecting flight in Amsterdam due to the delays.
“I’ve been at the airport since 4.30am,” she said. “Weirdly, KLM, the airline I booked with, couldn’t issue boarding passes digitally and requested us to collect them at the check-in desk.”
When she arrived, she said she was told the system used for checking in and boarding was down globally and that there were delays.
She claimed only a small number of people were allowed to check in before the flight had to leave. She was then told to leave check-in and that she would get an email with more information.
Ms Pultarova missed her connection in Amsterdam and said that although she was eventually offered an alternative flight, she was unsure whether she would be able to get to South Africa on time for her trip.
“I’ve been really kind of excited about this trip,” she said. “It’s one of those things where you don’t have really flexibility. So for me, it’s really been a big bummer.”
Jan Niemand was supposed to be on the same flight to Amsterdam, where he was planning to meet his wife for a connection to Johannesburg.
But he, too, was unable to board after describing queues that “barely moved” at the baggage drop.
“The line at baggage drop barely moved, and eventually we were told that the system to check us in was offline,” he said.
“The staff began manual check-ins, but it moved very slowly. The time of the flight, 6.30am, came and went and then we were told that the flight had departed.”
He said emotions ranged from “outrage” to jokes being cracked about the situation.
“Eventually, an official ground staff member gathered us together and stated that the flight had departed, and that KLM would be in contact with us from here,” Jan continued.
He said he had been forced to purchase a UK SIM card and, at the time of speaking, was on the phone with KLM to try to arrange an alternative flight.
Paul Charles, chief executive of The PC Agency and former communications director of Virgin Atlantic, told The Independent: “Many in the industry are surprised that a company of the stature and scale of Collins Aerospace has been victim of such a cyberattack. It is one of the most experienced systems suppliers in the world to airports and airlines, and governments, including the UK.”
The attack affected the multi-user system environment passenger processing system, known as Muse.
Mr Charles said: “If Collins can be hacked so easily, then you have to question all suppliers. I hope they’re able to get the Muse software affected back online quickly; otherwise, flights will be affected for many days to come.”
Collins Aerospace said it was working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
It said: “We have become aware of a cyber-related disruption to our Muse software in select airports. We are actively working to resolve the issue and restore full functionality to our customers as quickly as possible.
“The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop, and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations. We will share more details as they are available.”
The UK’s transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said she was aware of the incident and was monitoring the situation.
“If you’re flying at Heathrow today, check with your airline before travelling,” she added.
