BRUSSELS (AP) – Fallout from fallout from cyberattacks that destroyed check-in systems at several European airports was extended to the second day on Sunday as passengers faced dozens of cancelled and delayed flights and had malicious effects for at least one major airport.
Brussels Airport said it had asked the airline to cancel nearly 140 departures scheduled for Monday as it appears to be the toughest hit, as it cannot provide a new, secure version of the check-in system yet. The airport said 25 outbound flights were cancelled on Saturday and 50 flights were cancelled on Sunday.
Since the end of Friday, airports in Berlin, Brussels and London have been hit by electronic systems disruptions that have ushered check-in and yelled at airline staff trying options like using handwritten boarding passes and backup laptops. Many other European airports were not affected.
CyberTack has influenced Collins Aerospace’s software. The system helps passengers to check in, print boarding passes and bag tags and dispatch their luggage. On Saturday, the US-based company cited “cyber-related confusion” over software at European “Select” airports.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the cyberattack, but experts said it could turn out to be a hacker, criminal organization or a state official.
The European Commission, the administrative division of the 27-national European Union, said aviation safety and air traffic control were not affected. Currently, the origins of the incident remained under investigation, but there were no signs of widespread or serious attacks.
Half of Monday’s flights from Brussels Airport have been cancelled
The departure committees at London’s Heathrow and Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport had shown more smooth arrivals and signs of departure on Sunday, but Brussels Airport was still facing considerable problems.
Brussels Airport said in an email on Sunday that it had asked the airline to cancel half of 276 scheduled departures on Monday. They said cancellations and delays will continue as long as manual check-in is required.
RTX Corp., the parent company of Collins Aerospace, did not immediately respond to two emails on Sunday seeking comment.
On Saturday, the aviation and defense technology company said in a statement that it was working to resolve the issue. “The impact is limited to electronic customers check-in and baggage drops, and can be mitigated through manual check-in operations.”
Brussels Airport said it could maintain 85% of scheduled departures over the weekend thanks to the deployment of additional staff by its airport partners and the fact that self-bag drops and online check-in are still operational.
The cyberattacks only affected computer systems at check-in desks, not self-service kiosks, and airport spokesman Ihsane Chioua Lekhli said the team turned to alternative backup systems and helped pull out laptop computers to deal with the impact.
The airport advised passengers to check the flight status before moving to the airport and use an alternative check-in method.
“Work continues to resolve and recover from Collins Aerospace Systems Friday outages that affected check-in,” a Heathrow statement said. “I apologize to anyone facing delays, but working with the airlines keeps the majority of flights open.”
A slow Sunday message on the Brandenburg airport web page said, “System outages at service providers will result in longer wait times. Please use online check-in, self-service check-in, and fast bag drop service.”
