Chaos at European airports after cyberattack, half of flights canceled

Brussels Airport has announced that half of the flights scheduled to be launched today will be cancelled, due to the continuing disruption of the electronic registration system.

“We have urged airlines to cancel 50% of Sunday's flights on September 21st, to avoid long lines and late cancellations,” said an airport spokesman.

Eurocontrol, the European air traffic management agency, has also urged airlines to reduce half of their travel schedules to and from Brussels to Monday.

The attack also affects Heathrow and Berlin

Heathrow Airport in London has also been affected by the attack, with several delayed flights due to a “technical problem” affecting several airline registration systems. Meanwhile, long wait and delays have also been reported at Berlin's Brandenburg Airport.

The RTX company, owner of the Collins Aerospace operation the Muse system, the affected software, confirmed that it was a <x0 outage related to a cyber attack” that touched “aport specific”.

Muse is a joint system used by various airlines for registering passengers and delivering luggage to joint sports.

In Heathrow, British Airways has switched to a reserve system and is operating normally, but most other airlines have been severely affected. The airport administration warned of further delays, while efforts to fully restore the system are still under way.

The European Commission said it is closely terminating “the situation, adding that there are no indicators suggesting a wider spread or a more serious threat.

According to the FlightAware platform, hundreds of flights were delayed Saturday across Europe. In Ireland, Dublin and Kork airports reported a small “impact, with several airlines passing into manual records.

EasyJet and Ryanair, who do not use affected systems in Heathrow, said they are operating normally.

However, in a special incident at Dublin Airport, Terminal 2 was temporarily evacuated due to a security alert for suspicious luggage dealt with innocuous.

Cyber security analysts say this incident again shows the vulnerability of the aviation industry to attacks on digital infrastructure. In July, a global break due to a wrong update by CrownStrice caused massive cancellations in the US.

There are unconfirmed suspicions that hackers linked to Moscow may be behind this attack, but experts stress that the biggest attacks in recent years have been carried out by criminal groups seeking financial benefits through extortion.

Collins Aerospace has yet to give public comments on the nature or origin of the attack, while investigations are under way. /Periscopi/