Passengers traveling through London Heathrow, as well as Brussels and Berlin airports, experienced delays on Sunday following an alleged cyber-attack that affected check-in desk software. The incident reportedly impacted Collins Aerospace, a provider of check-in technology used by multiple airlines, leading to a return to manual check-in processes starting Friday night.
Airports advised travelers to verify their flight statuses prior to arriving and suggested that passengers arrive no more than three hours before long-haul flights and two hours before shorter ones. Collins Aerospace described the situation as a “cyber-related incident” and is working to resolve the issue. If confirmed as a cyber-attack, it would add to a growing list of similar incidents affecting major companies recently.
Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium indicated that on Saturday and into Sunday, hundreds of flights faced delays, with 35 cancellations reported on Saturday and at least 38 cancellations by midday Sunday across the impacted airports. Heathrow saw over 130 flights delayed by at least 20 minutes by 11 a.m. on Sunday.
In Brussels, all of the more than 80 flights scheduled had delays ranging from 15 minutes to four hours, with 20 flights cancelled. The Brussels airport acknowledged challenges due to disruptions at an external service provider related to the cyber-attack.
Berlin’s airport reported over 70 delayed flights by midday Sunday and recommended that passengers utilize online or self-service check-in options as longer waiting times were anticipated due to the systems outage.
The UK Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, stated she was monitoring the situation and advised travelers to check with airlines for updates. Collins Aerospace, owned by RTX, expressed its commitment to restoring functionality to its systems as soon as possible.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/sep/21/delays-continue-at-heathrow-brussels-and-berlin-airports-after-alleged-cyber-attack