Heathrow is still dealing with the aftermath of yesterday’s cyber attack as passengers face a second day of travel hell with flights already delayed and cancelled.
Hackers who targeted Collins Aerospace, a tech firm that provides services for several airlines at multiple airports across the world, caused chaos at the UK’s largest airport yesterday, leaving holidaymakers stuck in three-hour check-in queues.
Check-in and boarding systems were crippled, forcing manual processing and causing hundreds of flight delays and cancellations.
Brussels and Berlin airports also experienced delays and disruption on Saturday, with half of all flights being cancelled.
And the chaos is set to spill over into today with Heathrow urging people to check the status of their flight and arrive earlier than usual.
A notice on their website this morning reads: ‘Work continues to resolve and recover from Friday’s outage of a Collins Aerospace airline system that impacted check-in.
‘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.’
Heathrow is still dealing with the aftermath of yesterday’s cyber attack as passengers face a second day of travel hell with flights already delayed and cancelled (Pictured: Terminal 4 today)
And the chaos is set to spill over into today with Heathrow urging people to check the status of their flight and arrive earlier than usual (Pictured: Terminal 4 today)
Passengers due to fly from the airport’s Terminal 4 said they were met with queues, delays and confusion as to whether they’d be able to make their planned trips.
It is understood British Airways over in Terminal 5 has managed to avoid delays and is operating as usual thanks to a back-up system, but most other airlines operating from Heathrow are affected.
A number of flights are already delayed or cancelled today, according to the departure board on the airport’s website.
Last night, Heathrow said it was continuing to ‘resolve and recover’ from the outage.
A National Cyber Security Centre spokesperson said it was working with Collins Aerospace, affected UK airports, the Department for Transport and law enforcement to get a full understanding of the attack’s impact.
Brussels Airport said on Sunday: ‘As a result of a cyberattack on the external service provider of the check-in and boarding systems, check-in operations at several European airports, including Brussels Airport, are heavily disrupted.
‘The service provider is actively working on the issue and trying to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
‘This has a large impact on the flight schedule and will, unfortunately, cause delays and cancellations of flights.’
Brussels Airport has today asked airlines to cancel half of all flights scheduled to depart on Monday.
A statement on the Berlin Airport website said there were longer waiting times at check-in.
Collins Aerospace said on Saturday it was working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
At Heathrow (pictured yesterday), Britain’s busiest airport, at least 12 flights were cancelled, and more than 400 were delayed, some for hours. A third of all flights were affected
Thousands of air passengers faced chaos yesterday after hundreds of flights were delayed at Heathrow (pictured) as a suspected cyber-attack crippled its electronic check-in and boarding facilities
It said: ‘We have become aware of a cyber-related disruption to our Muse (multi-user system environment) 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.’
The European Commission, which takes part in managing airspace across Europe, said it is monitoring the situation but added there were no signs the alleged cyber attack was ‘widespread or severe’.
A spokesperson for the European Commission said on Saturday evening: ‘The commission is closely monitoring the cyber attack that has disrupted airline check-in and boarding systems for several airlines across multiple airports globally.
‘While passengers are facing disruption, aviation safety and air traffic control remain unaffected.
‘The commission is working closely with EUROCONTROL, ENISA, airports and airlines to restore operations and to support passengers.
‘Current signs do not indicate a widespread or severe attack.’
Owners of Collins Aerospace, RTX, said it was ‘aware of a cyber-related disruption’ to its system in ‘select airports’ and that it was working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
They added: ‘The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations.’
It said its Muse software – which allows different airlines to use the same check-in desks and boarding gates at an airport, instead of requiring their own – had been impacted.
As the National Cyber Security Centre – the public-facing arm of GCHQ – launched an investigation on Friday night, experts blamed groups linked to Russia.
They pointed out the attack came hours after Russian jets breached Nato airspace by entering Estonia’s skies and flying over its sovereign territory for 12 minutes.
One former British military intelligence officer warned the cyberattack which has crippled Heathrow and other European airports has ‘all the hallmarks’ of being Russian-related.
The target of the cyber offensive was software called MUSE, which is operated by Collins Aerospace.
The technology is used by airlines globally for automated check-ins and boarding. Collins Aerospace, a US firm, could have been targeted by Russian hackers as it is a major supplier to the Ukrainian military.
