UK airports operator hit by cyber-attack; 8.7 million customers' data accessed

Manchester Airports Group (MAG), the operator of Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands airports, has confirmed a cybersecurity incident. An unauthorized third party accessed customer data related to car park, lounge, and fast-track bookings, as well as in-airport Wi-Fi sign-ups.

“

At no point has passenger safety or aviation security been compromised.

The company stated that approximately 8.7 million customers were affected. The accessed data primarily includes email addresses, with some phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers, and postcodes also involved. MAG emphasized that passenger safety and aviation security were not compromised at any point during the incident.

“

A quantity of customer data has been obtained that relates to car park, lounge and fast track bookings and in-airport wifi sign-ups at Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports.

MAG acted swiftly to contain the risk and is working with specialist advisers and relevant authorities. They assured customers that their bank or payment details were not accessed, as neither MAG nor the compromised system holds such information.

“

We would like to reassure customers that Manchester Airport Group takes the security of customer information extremely seriously and we apologise for any inconvenience or concern caused.

Operations at all three airports remained unaffected. MAG has apologized for any inconvenience or concern caused and urged customers to be cautious of unexpected communications asking for personal or financial information.

“

We would urge you to be particularly cautious of unexpected emails, calls or text messages claiming to be from us. We will never contact you unexpectedly to ask for payment or banking information.