ALBAWABA - On Saturday, a cyberattack on a third-party service provider messed up the check-in and boarding systems at a number of major European airports. This caused many flights to be delayed or canceled.
Automated systems at Brussels Airport went down, so staff had to check in passengers by hand. "This has a big effect on the flight schedule and will sadly cause delays and cancellations," airport operators said in a statement. They also said that technicians were working quickly to fix the problem.
Heathrow Airport in London also said there were problems, calling the incident a "technical issue" that affected systems supplied by a third-party vendor. Officials said they were working to restore full service, but they also told passengers to expect delays.
Berlin's main airport in Germany said that its check-in provider was attacked late Friday, which led operators to disconnect systems that were affected. Travelers were warned by the airport that they might have to wait longer and that their flights might have to be rescheduled. Officials said, "The attack did not directly target the airport, but it did have an effect on it."
Officials at airports that were affected told passengers who were supposed to leave on Saturday to check with their airlines before they left. The compromised system is said to be used at several airports in Europe, which raises concerns about other weaknesses in aviation infrastructure.
