Airport
Cyberattack hits Collins Aerospace check-in system, crippling Heathrow, Brussels...
Europe’s busiest airports descended into disarray this weekend after a cyberattack on Collins Aerospace’s *Muse* system, a shared airline check-in and baggage platform, disrupted operations across multiple hubs. Heathrow in London, Brussels Airport, and Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport were hardest hit, forcing thousands of passengers into long queues and prompting airlines to revert to manual systems.
The incident began late Friday night and cascaded into Saturday, causing *hundreds of flight delays and cancellations*. While authorities stressed that aviation safety was not compromised, the attack exposed how heavily airports rely on third-party digital infrastructure.
### What Went Wrong
At the center of the disruption is Collins Aerospace’s *Multi-User System Environment (Muse)*, software that allows different airlines to share check-in desks and boarding gates. Its outage disabled electronic check-in, boarding pass scanning, and baggage drop services.
RTX, Collins Aerospace’s parent company, confirmed a “cyber-related disruption” and said teams were working to restore normal operations. “The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations,” the company said in a statement.
British Airways was largely unaffected thanks to a back-up system, but most other carriers using Heathrow were caught in the digital bottleneck. EasyJet and Ryanair, which do not operate from Heathrow, confirmed they were unaffected.
### Airports in Emergency Mode
* **Heathrow**: Passengers reported chaotic scenes in Terminals 3 and 4, with two-hour waits at check-in and boarding passes failing to scan at gates. Extra staff were deployed, and airlines resorted to handwriting baggage tags. Despite delays, the airport insisted that “the vast majority of flights have continued to operate.”
* **Brussels Airport**: Eurocontrol, Europe’s aviation safety coordinator, ordered airlines to cancel 50% of flights in and out of Brussels until Monday. The airport warned of “large impacts on the flight schedule” with widespread cancellations.
* **Berlin Brandenburg**: Officials reported longer wait times as staff manually processed passengers.
* **Dublin and Cork**: Minor impacts were noted, with some carriers switching to manual check-in.
### Missed Connections in Frustration
For travelers, the disruption was deeply personal.
* Lucy Spencer, stuck in Heathrow’s Terminal 4, described “hundreds of people queuing” while staff manually phoned in passenger details.
* Monazza Aslam missed her onward connection in Doha after sitting on the tarmac for over an hour, saying: “I’ve been here since 05:00 with my elderly parents. We are hungry and tired.”
* Johnny Lal, due to fly to Mumbai for his mother-in-law’s funeral, said his family missed their flight. His mobility-impaired mother was left without support: “They keep just telling us the systems are down.”
While some passengers praised airlines for moving queues efficiently and prioritizing urgent flights, overall sentiment was of exhaustion and confusion.
### Official Reactions
The UK’s **National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)** is leading investigations alongside the Department for Transport and law enforcement. A spokesperson confirmed: “We are working with Collins Aerospace and affected airports to fully understand the impact.”
At the European level, the **European Commission** said it was “closely monitoring” the cyberattack but noted there was no evidence it was “widespread or severe.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander confirmed she was receiving “regular updates” and urged passengers to follow airline advice.
### Who Is Behind It?
No group has claimed responsibility, and experts caution against premature conclusions.
While some politicians speculated about Kremlin-backed hackers — noting recent Russian incursions into Estonian airspace — security analysts point to the more likely culprits: **criminal ransomware gangs**. These groups, many based in Russia or Eastern Europe, have earned billions through extortion, often disrupting critical services to demand payment in cryptocurrency.
Cybersecurity researchers noted similarities to ransomware attacks that hit Las Vegas casinos and major UK retailers last year. However, until Collins Aerospace discloses more technical details, theories remain speculative.
Travel journalist Simon Calder summarized the stakes: “At Heathrow, any disruption is serious. Departure control is complex, and if one node fails — in Brussels, in Berlin — pilots, planes, and passengers are all out of place. Things can get a lot worse before they get better.”
Until answers emerge, airlines and passengers alike are bracing for turbulence on the ground — long before take-off.
