A massive cyber disruption sent shockwaves through European air travel this weekend, with passengers at some of the region&rsquo;s busiest airports facing long queues, missed connections and cancelled flights.
London&rsquo;s Heathrow, Brussels, Berlin Brandenburg and Dublin airports were among those hit by what operators described as a &ldquo;cyber-related disruption&rdquo; in the software used for check-ins and baggage handling. The system, Muse developed by Collins Aerospace,&nbsp; allows airlines to share check-in desks and boarding gates.
Heathrow warned of &ldquo;possible delays&rdquo; as airlines scrambled to switch to manual processes. Passengers described chaotic scenes. Lucy Spencer, waiting at Heathrow Terminal 4 for her Malaysia Airlines flight, told reporters: &ldquo;They told us to use the boarding passes on our phone, but when we got to the gates they weren&rsquo;t working &ndash; they&rsquo;ve now sent us back to the check-in gate.&rdquo;
Another traveller, Monazza Aslam, said she had been stranded with her elderly parents since 5 a.m.: &ldquo;We are hungry and tired. I&rsquo;ve already missed my onward connection at Doha.&rdquo;
Airlines fell back on manual systems, with staff handwriting luggage tags and phoning in passenger details. While British Airways managed to stay largely unaffected using a backup, most other carriers at Heathrow struggled with hours-long bottlenecks.
Brussels Airport admitted there would be &ldquo;a large impact on the flight schedule&rdquo;, and Berlin also confirmed unusually long waiting times. Eurocontrol, Europe&rsquo;s air traffic safety body, instructed carriers to slash up to half of their flight schedules to and from Brussels between Saturday morning and Monday night.
Meanwhile, Dublin Airport reported &ldquo;similar issues&rdquo; and later evacuated Terminal 2 as a safety precaution, without disclosing details.
Collins Aerospace&rsquo;s parent company, RTX, confirmed: &ldquo;The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual operations.&rdquo; The firm has not commented on the origin of the cyberattack.
Experts warn the incident highlights aviation&rsquo;s fragile dependence on digital systems. Travel analyst Simon Calder noted: &ldquo;Any disruption is potentially serious at Heathrow, given it is Europe&rsquo;s busiest airport. Departure control is a really complex business.&rdquo;
Speculation is swirling around the source of the attack. While some point fingers at Kremlin-linked hackers, cybersecurity experts caution that most large-scale hacks in recent years have been carried out by criminal ransomware gangs, often seeking cryptocurrency payouts. For now, the culprit remains unknown.
Passengers across Europe are advised to check flight status before travelling and stick to airport guidelines of arriving three hours before long-haul flights and two hours for domestic services.

Heathrow Chaos as Cyberattack Hits Airports

Heathrow and other EU hubs hit by cyberattack, delays pile up

Heathrow Chaos as Cyberattack Hits Airports

Heathrow and other EU hubs hit by cyberattack, delays pile up

September 20, 2025 | 18:12 IST