Manchester Airport Group (MAG) has confirmed that a "cyber security incident" has affected the data of approximately 8.7 million customers across three major UK airports: Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands.
The company, which operates all three airports, said that "at no point has passenger safety or aviation security been compromised" during the incident. It also confirmed that neither MAG nor the system that was hacked held customers' bank or payment details.
Data accessed in the incident
It is understood that the majority of the data accessed was restricted to customer email addresses and related to Wi-Fi sign-ups within the airport terminals. Phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers and postcodes were also accessed during the hack, the company said.
Operations at all three airports remained "unaffected" throughout the incident, according to MAG.
MAG response and reassurance
A MAG spokesperson said on Thursday: "Manchester Airports group has been subject to a cyber security incident by an unauthorised third party.
"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.
"We immediately contained the risk and have been 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.
"The incident has not resulted in any operational disruption. Airport operations remain unaffected and customer parking services continue to operate normally.
"Neither Mag nor the system accessed hold customers' bank or payment details. The data that has been accessed includes customers' email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registrations and postcodes.
"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."
Passenger numbers at affected airports
More than 32 million passengers flew into or out of Manchester Airport last year, while more than 30 million travelled through Stansted, in Essex, and four million through East Midlands in Leicestershire.
