{"id":438430,"date":"2025-09-20T11:35:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T11:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/438430\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T11:35:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T11:35:13","slug":"heathrow-among-airports-hit-by-delays-after-cyber-attack-on-check-in-provider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/438430\/","title":{"rendered":"Heathrow among airports hit by delays after \u2018cyber attack\u2019 on check-in provider"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 jEZjIj\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"sc-1uza6dc-1 gunhQQ\">Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n<p>Flights have been delayed and cancelled at airports including Heathrow after an alleged cyber attack targeted a service provider for check-in and boarding systems.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/london\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">London<\/a> Heathrow, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/brussels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brussels<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/berlin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Berlin<\/a> airports are all experiencing delays and disruption following the \u201ctechnical issue\u201d affecting Collins Aerospace, which works for several airlines at multiple airports across the world.<\/p>\n<p>Heathrow said passengers should check their flight status before travelling to the west London airport.<\/p>\n<p>Heathrow said: \u201cCollins 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the provider works to resolve the problem quickly, we advise passengers to check their flight status with their airline before travelling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease arrive no earlier than three hours before a long-haul flight or two hours before a domestic flight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdditional colleagues are available in check-in areas to assist and help minimise disruption. We apologise for any inconvenience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tereza Pultarova, a freelance journalist from London, arrived at Heathrow Airport in the early hours of the morning to catch a KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/amsterdam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amsterdam<\/a>, where she was to hop on a connection flight to Cape Town in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>But on arrival at the airport\u2019s Terminal 4, she was faced with queues, delays, and confusion as to whether she will be able to make her trip at all.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve been here since 4.30am we were supposed to be on a 6.30am flight to Amsterdam,\u201d Ms Pultarova told the PA news agency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost people on this flight have connecting flights to catch in Amsterdam from all over the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were kind of stranded here because the weird thing is, KLM wasn\u2019t able to issue us boarding passes digitally, and requested us to collect them at the check-in desk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then they told us that there is some sort of global issue with the system they\u2019re using for check-in and boarding, and they have to do everything manually.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo then they were checking in people at the rate of, like, one person per 10 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not exaggerating. It was just insane, the queue wasn\u2019t moving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then suddenly they said, \u2018Oh, the flight will be departing, we\u2019re closing the gate\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo they checked-in like 20 people, maybe like the business class, and then told the people from the 6.30 flight to just go away, that they need to start checking in for the 8.40 flight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ms Pultarova was to visit the Square Kilometre Array telescopes in the Karoo Desert for work, and added she had been looking forward to this trip for months.<\/p>\n<p>She said: \u201cI need to be there at 7am tomorrow, otherwise the party will leave for the Karoo Desert where the telescopes are.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo yeah, you know, I need to have information, but nobody\u2019s giving me any information, so I don\u2019t know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ms Pultarova was eventually told she could get on the 3.30pm flight \u2013 which means she will miss her connection flight in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a freelance journalist, so it\u2019s causing me loss of income,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been really kind of excited about this trip.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a short break \u2013 from the 21st to the 26th \u2013 so it\u2019s three nights at the Karoo site.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where you don\u2019t have really flexibility. So for me, it\u2019s really been a big bummer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Casey, from Aldershot in Hampshire, was on her way to a two-week backpacking holiday in Krabi, southern Thailand, via Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n<p>But her Etihad flight departing at 9.30am was delayed and she ended up queuing for three hours as baggage check-in had to be done manually with baggage tags being written by hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly two desks were staffed which is why we were cheesed off,\u201d she told PA. \u201cDidn\u2019t know then it was a cyber attack until four hours later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/brussels-airport\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brussels Airport<\/a> said: \u201cThere was a cyber attack on Friday night September 19 against the service provider for the check-in and boarding systems affecting several European airports, including Brussels Airport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis means that at the moment only manual check-in and boarding is possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe service provider is actively working on the issue and trying to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has a large impact on the flight schedule and will unfortunately cause delays and cancellations of flights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brussels Airport has advised passengers to check their flight status with their airline and only travel to the airport if their flight is confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>A statement on the Berlin Airport website said: \u201cDue to a technical issue at a system provider operating across Europe, there are longer waiting times at check-in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are working on a quick solution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Collins Aerospace said it is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.<\/p>\n<p>It said: \u201cWe have become aware of a cyber-related disruption to our Muse (Multi-User System Environment) software in select airports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are actively working to resolve the issue and restore full functionality to our customers as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will share more details as they are available.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: \u201cI\u2019m aware of an incident affecting airline check-in and boarding, impacting flights at Heathrow and other European airports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m getting regular updates and monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re flying at Heathrow today, check with your airline before travelling.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-438430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115236419936748867","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}