Manchester Airport, London Stansted and East Midlands Airport have been affected by a “cyber security incident” in which information linked to about 8.7 million customers was accessed, Manchester Airport Group (MAG) said.
MAG, which operates all three airports, said the breach did not affect passenger safety or aviation security. It also confirmed that neither the company nor the compromised system stored customers’ bank or payment details.
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Most of the information taken is understood to have consisted of customer email addresses, primarily collected through airport terminal wifi registrations.
The company said the incident also involved phone numbers, vehicle registration details and postcodes. Despite the breach, operations at Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports continued without disruption.
“A quantity of customer data has been obtained in connection with car park, lounge and fast track bookings, as well as in-airport wifi registrations at Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports.
“We acted immediately to contain the risk and have been working alongside specialist advisers, while taking appropriate measures to safeguard our customers and systems.
“We have notified the relevant authorities and are working with them. At no stage was passenger safety or aviation security compromised.
“The incident has caused no operational disruption. Airport services remain unaffected and customer parking facilities are operating as usual.”
The spokesperson added: “Neither MAG nor the system that was accessed holds customers’ bank or payment details. The information involved includes customers’ email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registrations and postcodes.
“Manchester Airport Group takes the protection of customer information extremely seriously, and we apologise for any inconvenience or concern this incident may have caused.”
More than 32 million passengers travelled through Manchester Airport last year, compared with more than 30 million at Stansted and four million at East Midlands.
