Endless queues of travelers in Heathrow, chaos in Berlin and Brussels. On Saturday (20.09.2025) it will remain in history as a “black day” for European air transport. OR cyberattack that hit the US company Collins Aerospace, a check-in and boarding provider, continues to affect the big noon until noon airports of London, Berlin and Brussels.
The automated Airport check-in systems were shut down due to cyberattackforcing airlines to serve passengers with manual procedures.
In any case, Eleftherios Venizelos Airport in Athens does not appear to have been affected by cyberattack so far.
Tails and ventilated aircraft
The terminals prevailed chaos. Passengers waited for hours in endless queues, check-in overloaded and announcements for delays or cancellations were succeeded by each other. According to airport administrations, hundreds of flights were delayed and several were canceled.
In Brussels, the administration warned that “the impact on the flight program is important” and that the problems will continue. In Berlin, an announcement on the official website spoke of “much longer waiting times” on check-in.
Collins Aerospace in the eye of the cyclone
Heathrow immediately named the supplier affected: Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of the US Group RTX. Its software, the Muse (Multi-Use System Environment), which is used by dozens of airports and airlines, was shut down.
Evolution shocked the industry. “Many in the industry are surprised that a company of the size and experience of Collins Aerospace has fallen victim to such an attack,” Paul Charles, a former head of Virgin Atlantic, told The Independent. “If Collins can be so easily hacked, then any supplier is called into question.”
With Heathrow and other European airports experiencing technical issues, Sky’s @EmmaBirchley reports on the disruption caused by a problem with third-party software that’s used for airport check-in and baggage drop systems.https://t.co/G8gDzyqv3Q
Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/REO56ImAyt
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 20, 2025
He warned that the effects may be long -term: “I hope they restore Muse software quickly, otherwise flights will be affected for many days.”
A branch in target
Apart from Collins, the entire civil aviation sector is now under pressure. Charlotte Wilson, a cyber -security specialist of Check Point, speaking to Sky News, stressed that the air industry is a “increasingly attractive target” for cybercriminals.
As he explains, the attacks utilize the supply chain: “When a third party provider is violated, the domino is immediate and can cause extensive disorders beyond the border.”
She calls for better international cooperation: “Cyberattacks do not stop at the national border. The faster a country recognizes and mentions an attack, the faster the others can act. A coordinated defense will always be more effective than individual reactions. “
Passengers trapped in chaos
Airport reports show the true dimension of the problem. “The queues are awesome,” a passenger at Sky News said, describing how he had to wait three hours in Heathrow’s Terminal 4. “Only two counter was operating out of six and no one informed us. We have learned that this is a cyberattack from the extraordinary bulletin on television. “
The manual process is dramatically delayed service: up to 10 minutes per passenger, according to testimonies, creating suffocating traffic jams already overloaded.
And now?
Although some airports, such as Munter/Osnabryk in Germany, said they were able to bypass the problem using their own systems, most large platforms are still facing serious delays.
This crisis raises key questions: How can critical infrastructure that is increasingly dependent on a limited number of technology suppliers? And how long will it take to regain passenger confidence?
So far, no organization has taken on the responsibility and the exact origin of the attack remains unknown. One is certain: Europe has experienced one of the most disturbing cyberattacks in aviation history – and the industry is called upon to take critical lessons.