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Passengers have been advised to check with their airlines whether flights are still going ahead at Heathrow
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Flight disruption is set to continue at London Heathrow for a second day after a cyber attack targeting a service provider for check-in and boarding systems hit European airports this weekend.
Hundreds of flights were delayed and cancelled on Saturday after the attack rendered automated systems inoperable, allowing only manual check-in and boarding procedures.
“Work continues to resolve and recover from Friday’s outage of a Collins Aerospace airline system that impacted check-in,” Heathrow Airport wrote in a late night post on X.
Brussels Airport said “difficult airport operations and flight cancellations” are expected to continue on Sunday, while Berlin Brandenburg airport also warns that delays will likely continue.
More than 500 flights were disrupted on Saturday, according to FlightRadar.
Heathrow said that Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in and boarding systems for multiple airlines globally, is “experiencing a technical issue which may cause delays for departing passengers”.
The airport advised travellers to check their flight status with the airline and said it had deployed extra staff into check-in areas to “help minimise disruption”.
Collins Aerospace said it is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
Disruption is continuing at Dublin Airport following an alleged cyber attack that has impacted a number of airports across Europe.
Some 13 flights, nine inbound and four outbound, had been cancelled at the airport by noon on Sunday.
The airport said some airlines in Terminal 2 were using manual workarounds to issue bag tags and boarding passes, and as a result, check-in and bag drop may take longer than usual.
They have advised that passengers should plan to arrive at the airport as normal today, however, to allow more time if you need to check in or drop bags at the airport.
“Passengers are advised to contact their airline directly for the latest updates on their flight,” they added.
Separately Terminal 2 was evacuated for a time on Saturday following a concern about a piece of baggage.
Gardai and the Defence Forces’ explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team attended the terminal, and the piece of luggage was later described as contained and deemed safe for removal.
Brussels Airport has asked airlines to cancel half of Monday’s scheduled departing flights as issues with its check-in system, stemming from a cyberattack on Friday, remain unresolved, the operator said on Sunday.
A spokesperson for the airport said Collins Aerospace, the system’s provider, has yet to deliver a secure updated version of the software necessary to restore full functionality.
The Government needs to immediately make a statement on whether Russian involvement is suspected in an alleged cyber attack on an airport check-in provider, the Liberal Democrats have said.
Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller said: “After the flagrant violation of Estonian airspace, the Government needs to urgently establish if Vladimir Putin is now attacking our cyber systems.
“If the Kremlin is behind this attack, causing chaos at our busiest airport, we need to be firm in our response.”
UK security chiefs are “working with” Collins Aerospace and affected airports following today’s cyber attack.
A National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) spokesperson said: “We are working with Collins Aerospace and affected UK airports, alongside Department for Transport and law enforcement colleagues, to fully understand the impact of an incident.
“All organisations are urged to make use of the NCSC’s free guidance, services and tools to help reduce the chances of a cyber attack and bolster their resilience in the face of online threats.”
We heard earlier on Sunday morning from Heathrow airport, who are still dealing with the fallout of the cyber attack.
A spokesperson said: “Work continues to resolve and recover from Friday’s outage of a Collins Aerospace airline system that impacted check-in.
“While the underlying problem was outside our influence, we have continued to support our airline partners and passengers to get away as timely as possible over the weekend, whilst providing additional colleagues to help onsite.
“We apologise to those who have faced delays, but by working together with airlines the vast majority of flights have continued to operate.
“We encourage passengers to check the status of their flight before travelling to Heathrow and to arrive no earlier than three hours for long-haul flights and two hours for short-haul.”
As airlines scramble to get a handle on the disruption caused by Friday’s cyber attack, attention is turning to the the origin of the hack and how such incidents can be prevented in future.
You can read more below…
Passengers at Heathrow are still experiencing a small amount of disruption on Sunday afternoon.
Around seven departing flights have been cancelled and 18 more delayed, although it is not clear which of these were caused by the technical issue, reports the PA news agency.
Experts have warned that a single cyber attack in an industry like aviation can have a rapid knock-on effect for airlines and passengers.
Speaking to The Independent, cybersecurity expert Vykintas Maknickas said: “This attack is a prime example of the supply-chain risks facing the aviation industry.
“Many airports, including those affected in this incident, rely on the same third-party systems for passenger handling.
“While this approach boosts operational efficiency, it significantly reduces resilience.
“A single cyberattack on one vendor can quickly escalate into widespread disruptions across multiple airports, as seen with the delays and cancellations at major European hubs like Heathrow, Brussels, and Berlin.”
The incident is the latest in a series that have affected UK airports since the start of the year.
Thousands of passengers trying to fly both in and out of the country faced major disruption on Wednesday 30 July after air traffic control (ATC) provider Nats was hit by a technical glitch.
More than 150 flights – 84 departures and 71 arrivals – were cancelled in airports across the UK, with the highest number of cancellations at London’s Heathrow Airport.
A number of inbound flights were also diverted to European cities as a result of the glitch, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Passengers at Stansted Airport also faced long delays and disruption on Sunday 11 May after an IT glitch caused some of the airport’s systems to fail.
The malfunction affected check-in, baggage, and security, with engineers investigating the source of the IT problem saying it may have been related to the systems’ internet access.
On Friday 21 March, more than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted by Heathrow airport’s closure following a fire at a nearby electrical substation.
Some 234,000 passengers booked to fly to or from Heathrow that day had their flight cancelled, diverted or delayed when the airport suffered a power outage because of a blaze at the substation in Hayes, aviation industry statistics seen by the PA news agency have showed.
No flights were permitted at the airport on that day until around 6pm.
A further 36,500 people hoping to travel the following day were affected when 74 flights, 6.1% of the total scheduled, were cancelled.
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