Travellers moving through some of Europe’s busiest airports faced long lines and delays on Friday after a cyberattack disrupted check-in technology used by several hubs. The outage impacted software provided by Collins Aerospace, a major supplier of passenger processing systems, and temporarily forced airports to fall back on manual operations.
At Brussels Airport, staff printed boarding passes by hand while baggage tags had to be written manually. By late morning, the disruption had led to about ten flight cancellations and more than a dozen significant delays. Officials stated that security screening and air traffic control were unaffected, but acknowledged the passenger experience was heavily impacted.
London Heathrow and Berlin Brandenburg also confirmed disruptions, with both airports reporting longer processing times for check-in and bag drop. In Ireland, Dublin and Cork saw limited interruptions, though authorities said the impact was quickly contained.
The most immediate impact on passengers was waiting in long queues and, in some cases, missing flights. Airport spokespeople advised travellers to allow extra time for check-in while systems are being restored. By Friday afternoon, manual procedures were still in place in several locations, though staff worked to reduce delays as much as possible.
The company at the center of the disruption, Collins Aerospace, confirmed it was investigating the incident. Its MUSE (Multi-User System Environment) software, widely used by airlines and airports for passenger management, was the target of the attack. While airlines were not directly hacked, their operations were affected since many rely on the same check-in to coordinate boarding and baggage systems.
What is the MUSE system?
This makes airport operations more flexible and efficient, but it also means that if MUSE experiences an outage, multiple airlines and airports can feel the impact at the same time.
The MUSE platform is a common check-in and boarding software used by many airlines and airports worldwide. Instead of each airline running its own system at every airport, MUSE allows several carriers to share the same counters, kiosks, and baggage drop facilities.
Who’s Behind the Cyber Attack?
Authorities have not yet said who carried out the cyberattack or how access was gained. Officials noted that no evidence so far suggests passenger data was stolen, but the investigation is still underway.
Cybersecurity experts say that airports increasingly face risks not only from aviation infrastructure being targeted but also from service providers whose technology supports daily operations.
This incident adds to a growing list of cyber events affecting transport infrastructure worldwide, from rail systems to shipping terminals. Earlier this week, UK authorities arrested two individuals linked to the Scattered Spider group during an investigation into a cyberattack on Transport for London (TfL) that caused millions of pounds in damage.
