Mysterious Hack Hits European Airports, Extends to Egypt

 

Cairo International Airport                    

Mysterious Hack Hits European Airports, Extends to Egypt

The Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation revealed on Saturday evening that a number of flights arriving at major Egyptian airports were affected by a cyberattack that hit several European airports.

The Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation issued an official statement indicating delays in the arrival of limited flights to Cairo International Airport from Heathrow (London), Luton (Ireland), Brussels (Belgium), and Berlin (Germany), in addition to delays for some foreign airline flights to Hurghada and Sphinx airports.

The Ministry confirmed that Egyptian airline flights were not affected, and that it is monitoring the situation moment by moment through the central operations room in coordination with international agencies. The statement explained that the attack led to a temporary disruption in the IT systems at these airports, partially impacting takeoff traffic. Passengers were urged to check their flight schedules through airline apps.

In urgent directives, Minister of Civil Aviation Sameh El-Hefny ordered the strengthening of precautionary measures and the raising of operational readiness at all Egyptian airports, stressing adherence to the highest safety standards to ensure that air traffic is not affected by any potential repercussions. The Ministry urged passengers traveling on foreign airlines to review their updated schedules, affirming its commitment to quickly respond to any developments.

Cyber ​​Attack

The cyber attack, which occurred Friday night, targeted Collins Aerospace, a US subsidiary of RTX (formerly Raytheon), the main supplier of check-in and take-off systems at many international airports, disrupting its software at "selected" European airports. Affected airports, including Heathrow (over 80 million passengers annually), Brussels (approximately 25 million), Berlin (Brandenburg), and Dublin and Cork airports in Ireland, reported delays and cancellations, forcing them to resort to manual check-in and take-off procedures, affecting thousands of passengers.