Hacking and drones test aviation security

A hack hitting major airports across Europe followed by drone
incursions in Copenhagen and Oslo have highlighted vulnerabilities
in aviation infrastructure and security

Airports affected by technical issues*

Drone sightings/incursions

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*Includes major
disruptions from
CrowdStrike
incident

May 2017: IT failure at British
Airways data centre forces airline
to cancel all flights from London
Heathrow and Gatwick airports
on holiday weekend. Some 75,000
passengers affected

Dec 2018: Roughly 140,000
travellers disrupted after multiple
drone sightings cripple Gatwick
airport for three days in run up
to Christmas

Jan 11, 2023: Federal Aviation
Administration orders nationwide
ground stop following safety system
outage. More than 11,000 U.S.
flights affected

Aug 28: Hundreds of UK flights
delayed or cancelled after technical
glitch at National Air Traffic
Services meant flight plans had
to be processed manually

Jul 19, 2024: Faulty software
update by global cybersecurity firm
CrowdStrike causes widespread
Windows crashes, grounding over
5,000 flights worldwide

Mar 21, 2025: Substation fire
shuts down Heathrow airport,
stranding over 200,000 people

Sep 10: Several Polish airports
temporarily closed by suspected
Russian drone incursion

Sep 20: Cyberattack targets
check-in and boarding systems
provider Collins Aerospace,
disrupting operations at Heathrow,
Berlin and Brussels airports

Sep 22: Drone incursions force
authorities in Denmark and Norway
to temporarily close Copenhagen
and Oslo airports

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Sources: Flightradar24, Reuters, Threads
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