European airports still dealing with disruptions days after ransomware attack 

A ransomware attack targeting Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in systems for numerous airports across Europe, has resulted in prolonged disruptions that have persisted into a fourth day.

As reported by FlightRadar24,
major airports are experiencing severe delays: London Heathrow is reporting 90% of flights delayed with an average delay of 29 minutes; Brussels Airport is at 88% delayed with an average of 43 minutes;
Berlin Brandenburg has 94% delayed with a typical delay of one hour; and Dublin Airport sees 91% of flights delayed with an average delay of 26 minutes.

Graeme McQueen, a spokesperson for Dublin Airport, stated, “there is no timeline at the current time for a fix to be implemented,” as airlines “continue to deploy manual workarounds while work continues to fix the IT issues that have been affecting check-in and boarding systems.”

Brussels Airport has indicated they expect “limited disruptions” on Tuesday and Wednesday. On their official website, they stated that “the service provider is actively working on the issue and trying to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.” However, it’s still uncertain when full normalcy will be restored.

Ihsane Chioua Lekhli, another spokesperson for Brussels Airport, informed TechCrunch that “over 90% of the scheduled flights can depart today, but delays are still anticipated.”

According to a warning posted on Berlin Airport’s official website, travelers should expect “longer waiting times.” Dennis Dobrowolski, spokesperson for Berlin Airport, remarked that “operations at the airport have continued to stabilize,” but warned that delays in departures, baggage handling, and delivery remain possible.

Representatives from Heathrow Airport have not provided a comment on the situation.

On Monday, the European Union’s cybersecurity agency ENISA confirmed that the ongoing airport disruptions stemmed from a ransomware attack against Collins Aerospace.

RTX, the parent company of Collins Aerospace, has yet to respond regarding the recovery status post-cyberattack.

This story has been updated to include comments from spokespeople for Brussels and Berlin airports.

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Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai is a Senior Writer at TechCrunch, specializing in hacking, cybersecurity, surveillance, and privacy. You can reach out to Lorenzo via email at lorenzo@techcrunch.com, through encrypted messaging at +1 917 257 1382 on Signal, and via @lorenzofb on Keybase/Telegram.