UK airports operator hit by cyber-attack and customer data accessed

Company that runs Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands hubs says passenger safety is unaffected

Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports have been hit by a cyber-attack, with hackers accessing the data of about 8.7 million customers.

Hackers obtained their email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers and postcodes, as the incident affected data related to “car park, lounge and fast-track bookings and in-airport wifi sign-ups”, said Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which operates the three air hubs.

The company added that “at no point has passenger safety or aviation security been compromised” during the incident and operations at the airports were unaffected. The hacked system did not hold customer bank and payment details.

In an email to customers, London Stansted said: “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. We apologise for any inconvenience or concern this may cause.”

A spokesperson for MAG said on Thursday that the company had “immediately contained the risk” from the incident and was “working with specialist advisers and taking appropriate steps to protect our customers and systems”.

“We have informed and are working with the relevant authorities. At no point has passenger safety or aviation security been compromised,” they said. “The incident has not resulted in any operational disruption. Airport operations remain unaffected and customer parking services continue to operate normally.”

The spokesperson added: “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.”