Passengers faced dozens of cancelled and delayed flights as the attack crippled several systems at airports in Brussels, London and Berlin. No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
“The flight delays arising from the outage at Heathrow and other European airports for the electronic check-in and baggage drop show how technically interconnected flying is,” said Professor of Practice Nigel Phair, Department of Software Systems & Cybersecurity, Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University.
“It highlights the importance of third-party systems connecting airlines, airports and the IT integrators that keep operations running.
“While this hasn’t yet impacted any Australian airports, it demonstrates the need for Australian airlines to redouble their cyber security controls, especially after the recent Qantas data breach.
“It is also important for Australian airports to practice their business continuity efforts and rehearse manual work arounds should such an issue happen to them.”
Meanwhile travel disruption expert Tara Spielhagen says digital disasters are becoming more common and the financial effects these have on airlines can be huge.
“We’re seeing yet another wave of flight cancellations as a major cyber-attack shut down multiple European airports,” said Ms Spielhagen, co-founder and CEO at Swiipr.
“Passengers affected by delays are unlikely to be eligible for compensation payments, as the cyber-attack will almost certainly be considered an extraordinary event.
“But under UK regulations, airlines still have a duty of care towards customers during significant disruptions.
“This means that carriers must provide impacted travellers with assistance – including the provision of food and drink and accommodation for overnight delays.
“Even as normal operation resume, airlines will still be under pressure to reschedule flights, meet regulatory requirements and support their customers.
“As payment partner to many airlines, including the UK’s largest operator out of Heathrow, we anticipate a large number of payments for passengers over the coming days.
“When last year’s global IT outage grounded thousands of flights, we saw a 200% rise in payments to passengers from airlines on the first day alone.”
