Heathrow Airport issues update as passengers face another day of disruption after 'cyber attack'

Heathrow Aiport has issued an update after passengers experienced delays due to check-in and boarding system issues. yesterday.

The Airport has apologised after a cyberattack on a service provider caused huge delays this weekend. Technical issues were blamed for passengers being warned it "may cause delays".

The disruption began on Friday night and continued throughout Saturday, with flights cancelled or delayed as the impacted airlines had to carry out check-in and boarding operations manually.

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It is understood British Airways at Terminal 5 remains unaffected and has been operating as normal. Around 14 flights were cancelled and some delayed across the other terminals on Saturday, although it is not clear which of these were caused by the technical issue.

Collins Aerospace said on Saturday it was working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. It said: “We have become aware of a cyber-related disruption to our Muse (multi-user system environment) software in select airports.

“We are actively working to resolve the issue and restore full functionality to our customers as quickly as possible. The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations.”

A passenger notice for Sunday September 21 on Heathrow Airport's website reads: "Work continues to resolve and recover from Friday's outage of a Collins Aerospace airline system that impacted check-in.

"We apologise to those who have faced delays, but by working together with airlines, the vast majority of flights have continued to operate.

"We encourage passengers to check the status of their flight before travelling to Heathrow and to arrive no earlier than three hours for long-haul flights and two hours for short-haul."

The cyberattack on the external service provider has caused issues with check-in operations at several European airports, including Brussels Airport. The issue is affecting Collins Aerospace, which works for several airlines at multiple airports across the world.

An update on the Brussels Airprot website reads: "Difficult airport operations and flight cancellations expected on Saturday 20 September and 21 September. Check the status of your flight before coming to the airport."

It confirmed the service provider "is actively working on the issue and trying to resolve the problem as quickly as possible."

The European Commission has said it is "closely monitoring" the cyber attack. A spokesperson said: "The Commission is closely monitoring the cyber attack that has disrupted airline check-in and boarding systems for several airlines across multiple airports globally.

"While passengers are facing disruption, aviation safety and air traffic control remain unaffected.

"The Commission is working closely with EUROCONTROL, ENISA, airports and airlines to restore operations and to support passengers. Current signs do not indicate a widespread or severe attack."

Are you affected by today's disruption? Get in touch by emailing webnews@mirror.co.uk