Amadeus data breach exposes 53,000 Cathay Pacific bookings

Dhaka: Cathay Pacific Airways has reported that a data breach involving Spanish travel technology provider Amadeus affected approximately 53,000 customer bookings, adding to a growing list of airlines reporting security incidents linked to the company's systems.

The Hong Kong-based carrier said on October 30 that the incident exposed booking information, including reservation references, passenger names and flight details in most cases. A smaller number of bookings involved additional personal information.

According to Cathay Pacific, the affected reservations dated from August 2023 through September 2026, based on information provided by Amadeus.

The airline said there was no evidence that financial or payment details had been accessed. It also confirmed that its own systems and flight operations were not affected by the breach.

Cathay Pacific said Amadeus had taken steps to contain the incident and introduced stronger system monitoring and threat detection measures.

Amadeus previously acknowledged identifying a vulnerability in a travel booking display environment. The company said investigations were continuing and that there was no indication the vulnerability had been exploited for ransomware attacks. It did not disclose how many airlines or customers were affected.

The incident has also prompted disclosures from other carriers. Japan Airlines recently reported that unauthorized access to an Amadeus system exposed information belonging to approximately 92,000 customers. South Korea's Asiana Airlines has also reported compromised customer data linked to the breach.