Airlines including Qantas, Cathay Pacific impacted in Amadeus cyber attack

Multiple airlines in the Asia-Pacific region have been caught up in a cyber security attack.

Qantas has alerted Australia’s national cyber security offices after the breach involving Amadeus IT Group.

Korean Air, Asiana, Japan Airlines, ANA and Cathay Pacific are also among the affected airlines.

“We have been advised by global travel technology provider Amadeus that there has been unauthorised access to one of their systems,” Qantas said.

“Amadeus advised the issue was contained in September and we’re working with them to understand the impact to any Qantas bookings.

“There is no impact to Qantas systems or databases, which remain secure.”

Amadeus services travel companies including multiple airlines, hotels and car hire companies around the world.

According to Cathay Pacific, Amadeus had said about 53,000 of the Hong Kong-based airline’s bookings were affected by the unauthorised access in Amadeus’ system.

The breach happened between August 2023 and September 2026.

“Amadeus has confirmed that it has taken actions to contain the incident, including a password reset, and has implemented enhanced monitoring and detection capabilities on its systems,” Cathay Pacific said.

“To date, Amadeus has not identified evidence that the affected data has been misused,” the Hong Kong-based airline added.

Malaysia Airlines has also said some of its customer information may have been breached, Reuters reported.

Logon Software Asia Group said none of the affected airlines reported a breach of their own internal databases.

“Korean Air and Asiana explicitly said they found no indications that their own systems were compromised,” the company wrote on LinkedIn.

Logon said the breach raised questions for airlines about supply chain security.

“Do we know who holds our data, how they authenticate, and whether their access is still justified?”

It’s not immediately clear if Air New Zealand has been affected. The airline has been approached for comment.

On its website, Amadeus IT Group described itself as providing services including artificial intelligence (AI) and biometrics for more than 400 airlines.

John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation. He also has experience covering courts, consumer affairs, crime and politics.