Category World News

Major international airports in Europe, including Berlin’s Brandenburg airport and London’s Heathrow airport, are still experiencing delays and cancellations as a result of a suspected cyberattack affecting their check-in systems, which has resulted in thousands of passengers’ cancellations and delays.

Early on Sunday, Heathrow Airport apologized to its customers who had experienced delays while also saying that it is still trying to “resolve and recover” from the airline system’s outage. The airport, which is the busiest and largest airport in the United Kingdom, processes more than 200 000 passengers each day, and in July, it recorded more than 7.9 million outbound and inbound passengers.

Meanwhile, as of early Sunday, Berlin airport announced on its website that passengers may experience “longer waiting times” as a result of a “systems outage.”

In 2024, Berlin handled a total of 25.5 million passengers, or almost 70, 000 on average per day.

In recent years, the transportation sector has been savaged by cyberattacks and technical problems, including the alleged sabotage attack on France’s national rail operator in July 2024 in advance of the Paris Olympics and the temporary shut down of Japan Airlines’ system and American Airlines.

In the most recent aviation attack that affected Europe starting on Friday, Irish airports in Ireland reported “minor impacts” from “a Europe-wide software issue.”

According to Dublin Airport, “Some flights may be impacted as the day progresses, and passengers are advised to get in touch with their airline directly for flight updates,” according to a statement on X.

After reporting a “cyberattack” late on Friday, Brussels airport reported at least 10 flight cancellations and 17 delayed flights.

Check-in operations at several European airports, including Brussels Airport, are severely impacted by a cyberattack on the external service provider of the check-in and boarding systems, according to an announcement made late on Saturday on the airport’s X account.

Up until Sunday, it added, “Difficult airport operations and flight cancellations” are anticipated.

According to reports, airports were “reporting disruptions in IT systems related to passenger handling,” according to the aviation watchdog Eurocontrol.

Because of the online attack, airlines were instructed to halt half of their flights to and from Brussels between 04:00 GMT on Saturday and 02:00 GMT on Monday, according to Eurocontrol.

Airport service provider Collins Aerospace informed the AFP news agency in a statement that “we have become aware of a cyber-related disruption to our MUSE software in some airports.”

According to Collins Aerospace, which claims to have a presence in 170 airports worldwide, “the impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop.”

A traveler at Heathrow complained to AFP that they were not given enough details about the disruption.

“They remained silent,” they said. The 41-year-old architect who was the passenger said, “It’s always crowded here, but today is like extra.”

They should delay the flight if the system is down, they say. As she waited in the packed check-in area at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 for a Saudia Airlines flight to Jeddah, she continued, “That’s what I’m hoping.”

Another woman who was in line for an Air Algerie flight to Algeria claimed she had been waiting for more than an hour to check in, noting that the airline was manually finishing the task.

The new $100, 000 fee for skilled workers will be levied per petition, according to the United States, and it will not apply to current visa holders.

The US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, announced the announcement on Saturday, one day after it was announced that it would be paid annually and apply to people looking for new visas as well as renewals.

Major tech companies, such as Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, were urged to warn employees with H1-B visas to stay in the country or return quickly as a result of Lutnick’s comment.

However, White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt clarified that the fee will only apply to new visas and that the rule “does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to/from the US.”

There is no annual fee for this. She wrote, “It’s a one-time fee that only applies to the petition.”

This only applies to new visas, not renewals, and not current visa holders, she added.

President Donald Trump signed the executive order enacting the new fee on Friday night, and it is scheduled to go into effect on Sunday at 12:01 a.m. (04:01 GMT).

It is expected to expire in a year. However, it could be extended if the Trump administration decides that keeping it is in the US’s best interests.

H-1B visas allow businesses to sponsor foreigners with specialized skills to work in the US, initially for three years but later extendable to six.

The tech sector uses a lottery system to distribute the visas, which are widely used. Nearly three-quarters of the permits are issued by Indian nationals.

Critics claim that the program undervalues American workers by attracting foreigners who frequently offer to work for as little as $ 60, 000 annually. That is significantly below the $100, 000+ salary that US technology workers typically receive.

Trump’s most recent plan was being “studied by all concerned, including by Indian industry,” according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday. The ministry cautioned that the disruption caused to families is likely to result in humanitarian effects from this measure. The US government hopes the government will take appropriate action to address these issues.

The US Chamber of Commerce expressed concern as well.

In a statement, it said, “We’re concerned about the effects on employees, their families, and American employers.” We are collaborating with the Administration and our members to fully comprehend the implications and the best course of action.

Many H-1B holders on the well-known Chinese social media app Rednote also shared stories of returning to the US for fear of paying the new fee.

Some passengers who were already on flights to leave the country on Friday de-boarded because they worried they might not be able to re-enter the country, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

According to Allen Orr, a member of the National Bar Association’s immigration committee, the most recent order has “caused widespread confusion.”

According to Orr, workers with new or renewed H-1B visas who were outside the US were advised not to travel, which delayed start dates and raised costs of “cancellation of flights and housing.”

The attorney claimed that the Trump order was misleading about how talented foreign workers were being treated.

He said that if an H-1B worker receives $100, 000, it basically leaves them out of the market, and many of these positions will simply stay abroad.

Millions of American TikTok users will be relieved to learn that China has agreed to approve a deal regarding the social media platform’s future.

Congress passed a bill last year that would have prohibited the short video app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, from operating in the US because US politicians were concerned about TikTok’s threat to national security and its propaganda.

However, Trump had already discussed the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a call on Friday and had already extended the deadline by which ByteDance was required to leave the platform or face the promised ban.

Why does Trump care so much about a deal with this app, then?

Presenter: Tom McRae

Guests:

Richard Weitz, senior associate professor of defense at NATO Defense College.

Einar Tangen, Senior Fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation, is