IT·Science News
Amadeus hack hits Asian airlines: Korean Air first, now Cathay with 53,000 bookings
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific says data from 53,000 bookings was compromised after hackers breached the system of its technology provider, Amadeus IT Group, the South China Morning Post reports. Cathay is one of hundreds of airlines worldwide that use Amadeus, and its disclosure follows similar ones by Korean Air and Japan Airlines. Cathay said the unauthorised access took place between August 2023 and September 2026.
A week earlier, South Korea’s Money Today reported that Korean Air had been affected over the same estimated period. Korean Air said the access used login credentials assigned to an account in Amadeus’s system, and that its own database showed no sign of intrusion. Amadeus notified the airline at 10:44pm on 20 October. Reservation numbers were confirmed as leaked, while other data was still being checked. Amadeus reportedly blocked the access and began dark-web monitoring, and Korean Air said no secondary damage had been confirmed.
“We sincerely apologize once again for causing concern to our customers.” — Korean Air, via Money Today
How each outlet framed it
- Money Today — the Korean angle: an airline stressing that its own systems were not breached, with no count of affected customers yet.
- South China Morning Post — the scale: a hard number for Cathay, and a sign that the breach reaches many airlines across Asia and beyond.
What we don't know yet: how many passengers are affected across all airlines, and what personal data beyond booking details was taken.