Millions of UK airport customer details accessed in major cyberattack

A cyber security breach targeting three major UK airports has led to the personal data of around 8.7 million customers being accessed, operator Manchester Airport Group (MAG) has confirmed.

The group, which oversees Manchester Airport, London Stansted and East Midlands Airport, assured the public that "at no point has passenger safety or aviation security been compromised", adding that no payment or banking details were exposed.

It is understood that the information accessed primarily consists of customer email addresses gathered during terminal wifi registrations. However, the hack also accessed phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers and postcodes associated with airport bookings. Flight schedules and terminal operations across all three locations have remained fully operational and unaffected.

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."

The spokesperson added: "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."

Those affected by the security breach were contacted via email by the Manchester Airport Group shortly after the cyberattack on Thursday morning.

Over 32 million travellers passed through Manchester Airport over the past year. Meanwhile, Stansted Airport in Essex handled more than 30 million passengers, and Leicestershire’s East Midlands Airport recorded a total of four million passengers across the past 12 months.