Japan Airlines (JAL) experienced a cyberattack on Thursday that disrupted luggage services and delayed flights at the start of Japan’s busy New Year holiday season. The airline restored its systems later in the day, resuming ticket sales and operations, local news reports said.
A malfunctioning router was identified as the cause and was shut down to mitigate the issue, Reuters news report said.
The network issues began around 7:25 a.m., delaying over 70 domestic and international flights by up to four hours and resulting in the cancellation of four domestic flights. While ticket sales were temporarily halted, reservations made prior to the disruption remained valid.
Japan Airlines stated that no personal information was leaked and no damage was caused by computer viruses. Investigative sources suggested the attack may have been a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, which floods systems with excessive data to overwhelm them.
Japan Airlines confirmed that the system was restored by 1:20 p.m. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi commented during a press conference, “Through the transport ministry, we have requested JAL to repair its system as soon as possible to respond appropriately to affected customers.”
Other Japanese airlines, including All Nippon Airways, Skymark Airlines, Solaseed Air, and Star Flyer, reported no cyberattacks and operated as usual. However, JAL’s disruptions affected Japan Post Co., leading to delays in mail and parcel deliveries.
At Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, electronic signs alerted passengers to the network issues, prompting many to question staff and check their phones anxiously.
Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture reported minimal visible disruption despite the situation.
Japan Airlines has confirmed that no customer information was compromised, and no damage was caused by computer viruses during the incident. Japan Airlines does not reveal the name of the technology provider for handling cyber security network.
In a separate incident this week, American Airlines grounded all flights for an hour on Christmas Eve due to a technical glitch involving network hardware, causing widespread travel disruptions.
Rajani Baburajan
