A Number Of Airports In Europe Struggle To Improve Check-in Disturbances After Cyber Attacks

JAKARTA - A number of Europe's largest airports struggled to restore normal operations on Sunday after hackers disrupted the automatic check-in system.

Hackers targeted check-in and boarding system provider Collins Aerospace, owned by RTX, on Friday, disrupting operations at London's Heathrow Airport - Europe's busiest airport - Berlin Airport in Germany and Brussels in Belgium.

RTX said on Saturday it was trying to fix the problem as quickly as possible, and the disruption could be overcome with a manual check-in operation.

They said the incident had affected their MUSE software, which was used by several airlines.

Passengers face long queues, cancellations, and delays on Saturday. Although the disturbances eased significantly in Berlin and Heathrow on Sunday, airport and data officials said delays and flight cancellations were continuing.

In a statement on Monday morning, Collins said it was working with four airports and airline customers affected, and was in the final stages of completing the update needed to restore full functionality.

Meanwhile, Brussels Airport asked airlines to cancel half of Monday's flight departures due to continuing issues.

A Brussels Airport spokesman said Collins Aerospace had not yet sent a secure version of the latest software and was needed to restore full functionality, prompting the airport to seek flight cancellations on Monday.

Brussels Airport said 50 of the 257 scheduled departures on Sunday had been canceled to avoid long queues and sudden cancellations. The day before, 25 of the 234 flights planned to be canceled, airport operators said.

A passenger flying from Brussels said the disruption on his trip was minimal.

"For me, everything is going as usual. For those who don't check-in online or don't bring bags that must be deposited, they may have to wait a while," he said.

Meanwhile, Berlin Airport Brandenburg said on Sunday some problems were still happening, but manual solutions had been implemented.

"Sometimes, there is a longer waiting time during check-in, boarding, baggage handling, and baggage collection. The delay in flight departures today is in accordance with normal operational days," he said.

Heathrow Airport said on Sunday morning, work continued to recover from system check-in disruptions. It added that "most of the flights are still operating".

Analysis by aviation data provider Cirium said the delay in Heathrow was "low", Berlin was experiencing a "medium" delay, while Brussels was experiencing a "significant" delay.

Regional regulators say they are investigating the source of the hack, which is the latest in a series of hacks that hit various sectors, from health care to automotive.