Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands Airport Customers Hit by Cyber Security Breach

Customers of Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports have been affected by a cyber security incident in which an unauthorised third party obtained personal information, Manchester Airports Group has confirmed.

The airport operator published details of the incident on Thursday, 27 August and has begun contacting affected customers directly.

The compromised information relates to airport car park, lounge and Fast Track bookings, together with people who signed up to use Wi-Fi at the three airports.

Manchester Airports Group says the information accessed includes customer email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers and postcodes.

Importantly, the airport group says neither it nor the system that was accessed holds customers’ bank or payment details.

MAG said it immediately took steps to contain the risk after becoming aware of the incident and has brought in specialist cyber security advisers.

The relevant authorities have also been informed and the group’s Data Protection team is overseeing the response.

There has been no operational disruption at Manchester, Stansted or East Midlands airports as a result of the incident.

MAG says passenger safety and aviation security have not been compromised and airport parking services continue to operate normally.

For passengers who prefer a pre-booked journey directly to or from UK airports rather than leaving a vehicle in airport parking, DM Airport Transfers provides airport transfers across the UK.

Existing airport bookings also remain valid, and customers do not need to take action simply because they have an upcoming booking.

However, access to MAG’s online Manage My Booking service has been temporarily suspended as a precaution.

Customers who need to make an urgent change to a booking due within the next 72 hours are being directed to the airport group’s customer service team while the online facility remains unavailable.

MAG is warning affected customers to be particularly alert to suspicious emails, text messages and telephone calls following the breach.

The combination of email addresses, telephone numbers, postcodes and vehicle registrations could potentially make fraudulent communications appear more convincing, so customers should be cautious about unexpected messages claiming to relate to an airport booking.

The airport group says it will never unexpectedly contact customers asking them to provide payment-card information, banking details or passwords.

Customers are also being advised not to click unexpected links or open attachments contained in suspicious communications.

Some media reports have put a figure on the number of customers potentially affected by the incident. However, Manchester Airports Group’s current official statement does not specify the number of people whose information was obtained, describing it only as a quantity of customer data.

DM News is therefore not attributing a customer total to the breach unless that figure is subsequently confirmed by MAG or another authoritative source.

The incident is particularly significant because Manchester Airports Group operates three of Britain’s major airports, meaning the compromised system contained information connected with customers using airport services in different parts of the country.

Passengers travelling through Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports should continue with their journeys as normal unless contacted directly about their data or advised otherwise by the airport.

Thanks for visiting DM News! If you’ve got a question, a story tip, or anything you’d like to share, head over to DriverMatty.com — I love to hear from you. While you’re there, don’t forget to check out my other websites and social media channels.