In a Monday morning statement, software provider Collins Aerospace said it was in the final stages of completing the necessary updates. However, they have asked airlines to cancel almost 140 of their 276 scheduled departures for Monday, according to international media. The cause of these serious problems is the cyberattack that took place on Friday.
Flight disruptions across Europe are expected to continue. Several of Europe’s busiest airports have been trying to restore normal operations in the past few days after a cyberattack on Friday disrupted the automated check-in and boarding software.
Brussels Airport said it was unclear when the damage could be repaired. Heathrow said on Sunday that efforts to resolve the issue were ongoing and apologized to passengers.
According to the BBC, about half of the airlines flying from Heathrow had resumed operations in some form by Sunday, including British Airways.
The UK’s Transport Minister, Heidi Alexander, also said she was aware of the incident and was “receiving regular updates and monitoring the situation.” Cyberattacks in the aviation sector have increased by 600% over the past year, according to a recent report by French aerospace company Thales.
The company, a subsidiary of the American aerospace and defense company RTX, said today that it is working with four airports and affected airline customers and is in the final stages of completing the updates required to restore full functionality.
RTX said on Saturday that it is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible and that the incident affected the Muse software.
The attack highlighted the risks associated with airports’ reliance on suppliers for critical technology. The European Commission said on Saturday that it is closely monitoring the incident and that “current signs do not indicate an extensive or serious attack.”
Additionally, on Sunday, Aer Lingus said it was “significantly impacted” by the issue.
