EU Commission: air traffic safety and air traffic control not endangered by cyber attack

Due to the cyberattack with ransomware on the American Collins Aerospace, an external service provider of the check-in and boarding systems, there have been disruptions at various airports in Europe since Friday evening. At Brussels Airport and the airports in Berlin, Dublin, and London, passengers must be checked in manually, resulting in huge queues. Several flights were canceled or diverted over the weekend and on Monday.

“Although passengers are still facing disruptions and delays today, the safety of aviation and air traffic control was not affected,” said spokesperson Thomas Regnier. “The Commission continues to closely monitor the situation, and we are working with Eurocontrol, (the European agency for cybersecurity) ENISA, national authorities, airports, and airlines to resume operations and support passengers.”

According to the Commission, the events demonstrate how important it is for member states to fully implement the so-called NIS2 directive, which establishes a uniform framework for cybersecurity in critical sectors. “This directive has identified aviation and transport as very critical areas, and therefore we urge all member states to implement NIS2 quickly and efficiently.”

According to ECSO, the European organization for cybersecurity, fourteen member states including Belgium have already transposed the directive into national legislation.