The recent cyberattack on major European airports’ automatic check-in and boarding systems caused a wave of flight cancellations, delays, and overall chaos. As as reported by Reuters, the EU's cybersecurity agency ENISA confirmed there was a third-party ransomware attack targeted at the airport’s boarding systems provider compromising critical airport infrastructure. Airports like Heathrow, Brussels, Berlin and Dublin faced severe disruptions, with hundreds of flights grounded or delayed as manual processes and system failures paralysed their operations.
Ever since this unprecedented disruption, triggered on September 19-21, 2025, “tens of thousands passengers” flying from major European hubs have been impacted, according to The Independent. As the passenger processing software kiosks went offline, the ability to manage check-ins, baggage and boarding became painfully slow and manual, pushing airport staff to their limits. With no back-up boarding alternatives from most airlines, many passengers found themselves stranded or facing long waiting times, and airports scrambled to adapt their processes amid the system chaos. Fortunately enough, our airline client had proactively implemented Dreamix’s mobile boarding platform and contingency plans, enabling their ground staff to continue check-in and boarding operations regardless of the system outage, minimising disruption to their passengers.
How Our Client Ensured Business Continuity
Here's what the headlines missed: Not every airline was caught off guard.
During the crisis, our airline client shifted operations to our mobile solution, which saw check-in 10x usage increase. Over the weekend disruption period, our solution handled over 21,000 passenger boardings across affected airports - maintaining normal operations while competitors struggled with manual processes.
While passengers at neighboring check-in counters and gates faced hours-long delays and cancelled flights, our client's operations continued, without the need to revert to manual processing. They deployed their mobile check-in and boarding solution allowing them to operate independently of shared infrastructure.
Our mobile and web-based platform enabled ground agents to efficiently assist passengers with the check-in and boarding process, despite the system outages. Agents leveraged their mobile devices to scan boarding passes, connect to printing peripherals, access real-time passenger lists, and communicate updates seamlessly - improving throughput and reducing congestion in such a challenging and demanding situation.
How our Solution Made All the Difference
When the system outage caused airport kiosks and traditional desks to fail, our client's ground agents pivoted to their mobile devices and connected to an independent set of printing peripherals allowing them to continue operations. Here's how it worked in real-time during the crisis:
🔒 Infrastructure Independence: Unlike airport kiosks, our solution operates through independent SDK and API connections, completely independent from the shared infrastructure.
📱 Flexible Operations: While other airlines were limited to fixed check-in desks, our client's ground agents moved freely throughout terminals, scanning boarding passes and managing passenger flow on site.
⚡1.5x Faster Processing: Even during the crisis, our solution maintained its speed advantage - boarding passengers up to 1.5 times faster than traditional methods.
🔄 Real-time Integration: Our integration kits kept passenger data flowing seamlessly, with real-time seat maps and boarding lists updating automatically.
"The power of this mobile solution became crystal clear during the system outage. While airports were scrambling with backup laptops and hand-written boarding passes, our client's agents were already equipped with a more flexible, more reliable system."
Gary Kenny, Head of Aviation Solutions @Dreamix
Beyond Crisis Management: The Broader Lesson
The cyberattack exposed a critical vulnerability in aviation: over-reliance on centralised, fixed infrastructure. When shared systems fail, entire airports struggle to provide good enough manual workarounds.
Our mobile check-in and boarding solution represents a fundamental shift toward distributed, resilient operations and ensures business continuity even in crisis situations:
- No single points of failure - each mobile device operates independently
- Instant scalability - deploy additional agents anywhere, anytime
- Reduced infrastructure dependency - maintain operational autonomy
- Enhanced security - decentralised system architecture limits attack surface
Don't wait for the next crisis to expose your vulnerabilities. The next cyberattack often isn't a question of "if" but of "when".
In exactly such challenging situations, resilient technology that can bridge the gap between system failures and passenger needs proves to be invaluable. If your airport or airline is looking for a reliable, flexible agent solution that can stay resilient and adapt to unexpected crises, contact us to learn how Dreamix can help you stay resilient.
Want to see how Dreamix can help your operations stay resilient? Let's connect.
