Cyberattack disrupts check-in systems at major European airports

A cyberattack targeting check-in and boarding systems has snarled air traffic and caused delays at some of Europe's top airports, officials said on Saturday.

The Brussels airport says the attack means that only manual check-in and boarding was possible there, and the incident was having a "large impact" on flight schedules.

"There was a cyberattack on Friday night 19 September against the service provider for the check-in and boarding systems affecting several European airports including Brussels Airport," it said in a statement.

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Authorities at Berlin's Brandenburg Airport said a service provider for passenger handling systems was attacked on Friday evening, prompting airport operators to cut off connections to the systems.

London Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest, said "a technical issue" affected a service provider for check-in and boarding systems.

"Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in and boarding systems for several airlines across multiple airports globally, is experiencing a technical issue that may cause delays for departing passengers," Heathrow said in a statement.

Qantas check in terminals at Heathrow Airport are impacted by the outage but the airline tells 9News they anticipate the issue will be resolved ahead of their next departure, so don't believe there'll be any impact to customers.

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However, they've deployed backup iPads to counters just in case and are advising customers to check in online beforehand.

Qantas say there's no impact in Australia.

Virgin Australia has also told 9News its not currently affected by the Collins Aerospace outage.

All affected airports have advised travellers to check their flight status and apologised for any inconvenience.

Formed in 2018, Collins is a US aviation and defense technology company and a subsidiary of RTX Corp., which was formerly Raytheon Technologies.

Collins provides the technology that allows passengers to check themselves in, print boarding passes and bag tags, and dispatch their own luggage, all from a kiosk.

Collins said it was "aware of a cyber-related disruption" to its MUSE (Multi-User System Environment) software at "select airports" but that manual check-in operations could still be used.

"We are actively working to resolve the issue and restore full functionality to our customers as quickly as possible," it said in a statement.

"The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations."

The impact was felt only at some airports: the Roissy, Orly and Le Bourget airports in the Paris area reported no disruptions.

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