Russia’s Aeroflot cancels 53 flights amid cyberattack disruption

Russian national airline Aeroflot cancelled over 50 flights from and to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on July 29, following a massive cyberattack that disrupted its IT infrastructure, according to data reviewed by Interfax.

The disruptions affected 22 outbound and 31 inbound flights, including services operated jointly with its subsidiary Rossiya Airlines. While only a few cancellations were reported early in the day, the airline’s press service said the schedule had largely stabilised by 10:00 a.m. local time. By then, 93 per cent of planned flights were operating as scheduled — 216 out of 233 round-trip flights, Caliber.Az reports.

The day before, only about 80 per cent of scheduled flights were completed, the company said, noting that most disruptions involved flights to and from Moscow, while regional operations continued normally.

On July 27, Aeroflot’s systems were hit by a significant cyberattack that caused widespread delays and forced the cancellation of dozens of flights. By the evening of July 28, the airline had confirmed the cancellation of 59 round-trip flights from the capital. Seven more were cancelled on July 29.

Despite the ongoing recovery, the airline assured that online check-in and airport check-in services were operating normally.

A pro-Ukrainian hacking collective known as Silent Crow claimed responsibility for the attack and said it had acted in collaboration with Belarusian activist group Cyberpartisans BY. The hackers cited opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as their motive.

In an statement cited by Reuters, the group claimed it had spent a year infiltrating Aeroflot’s systems, ultimately destroying 7,000 servers and gaining access to employee computers, including those of senior management. They also threatened to leak personal data of Aeroflot passengers — though no evidence has been provided to support this claim.

The attack primarily impacted domestic flights, but some international routes, including services to Minsk and Yerevan, were also affected. Departure boards at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport showed multiple cancellations and delays.

By Sabina Mammadli