Major European airports including Brussels, Berlin and London's Heathrow were hit by "cyber-related disruption" on Saturday, September 20, affecting check-in and baggage drop systems and causing delays, airport service provider Collins Aerospace told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"We have become aware of a cyber-related disruption to our MUSE software in select airports," the aerospace firm said, after at least three busy European air hubs reported facing disruption and warned of flight delays and cancellations. "The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations," Collins Aerospace added.
At least 10 flights were cancelled out of Brussels Airport and another 17 delayed by over an hour after the system was hit by a "cyberattack" overnight on Friday, the airport said. Only manual check-in and boarding was taking place at the Brussels air hub, which advised passengers flying on Saturday to check their flight status with airlines before going to the airport.
London's Heathrow Airport, the busiest in Europe, said its check-in and boarding systems, also provided by Collins Aerospace, were hit by a "technical issue" that "may cause delays for departing passengers."
A banner on the Berlin Airport website read: "due to a technical issue at a system provider operating across Europe, there are longer waiting times at check-in."
Collins Aerospace said it was "actively working to resolve the issue and restore full functionality to our customers as quickly as possible." The aviation tech company, which specializes in digital and data processing services, is a subsidiary of the American aerospace and defense group RTX (formerly Raytheon).
Cyberattacks and tech outages have disrupted operations at airports around the world in recent years, from Japan to Germany, as air travel increasingly relies on online, interconnected systems. The aviation sector saw a 600% increase in cyberattacks from 2024 to 2025, according to a June report by French aerospace company Thales.
"From airlines and airports to navigation systems and suppliers, every link in the chain is vulnerable to attack," the report warned, pointing out that the strategically and economically important sector had become a "prime target" for cyberattacks.
Last July, Australian airline Qantas was targeted by hackers, who broke into a system containing sensitive data on six million of its customers. In December 2024, Japan Airlines was also targeted.