Extortion group hackers have posted the personal information of nearly nine million people online following a data breach involving Manchester Airports Group, which operates London Stansted.
The cyber-criminals targeted systems connected to Manchester Airport, London Stansted, and East Midlands Airport after attempting to extort the airport operator for an undisclosed ransom, which went unpaid.
The published material includes contact details, vehicle registration numbers, postcodes, purchasing history, and browsing device data stolen from databases containing airport wi-fi logins, car parking records, and lounge bookings. The group released half a terabyte of stolen data on a public website hosted on the open internet rather than dark net channels.
Data security breach database HaveIBeenPwned verified the published dataset, confirming that it exposes email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, licence plate numbers, and travel records.
Cyber-security expert Kevin Beaumont said: “The data includes both historical locations and planned future travel, so individuals sensitive to their movements being known may need to take precautions. People should be alert to scammers reusing the data and so knowing details such as phone numbers and car registration numbers.”
Manchester Airports Group stated that passenger safety and physical security across its three sites remain unaffected.
“MAG is confident that we have taken effective measures to protect our customers and we have contacted all those affected, including reaching out to all those with upcoming bookings to advise them of additional support,” the company said in a statement.
The incident follows a broader trend of data extortion attempts against transport infrastructure operators across Europe. Financial and regulatory disclosures filed by Manchester Airports Group in 2026 detailed that the company processed over 66 million passengers over the prior 12 months, highlighting the scale of digital infrastructure managed by airport operating groups.
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