Last updated: 28 August 2026, 14:00 BST

Manchester Airports Group has confirmed a cyber security incident affecting customer data across all three of the airports it operates: Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands. The group announced it on Thursday 27 August 2026 and reports put the number of customers affected at around 8.7 million.

Flights, terminals and car parks are running normally. The single practical consequence for most people is that the online Manage My Booking service has been switched off, which matters more than it sounds this particular weekend.

The short version

  • Data taken covers car park, lounge and Fast Track bookings, plus in airport WiFi sign ups.
  • It includes email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registrations and postcodes.
  • No bank or payment details were involved. MAG says the affected system never held them.
  • Your existing booking is still valid and you do not need to do anything.
  • Manage My Booking is offline. If you need to change a booking, read the section below first.

If you need to change a booking, read this first

Manage My Booking is offline, so the only route to amend or cancel is the MAG customer services line on 0208 163 8001. That line runs Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00, and it is closed on bank holidays.

Monday 31 August is the summer bank holiday. The line therefore closes at 17:00 on Friday 28 August and does not reopen until Tuesday 1 September. Across Saturday, Sunday and Monday there is no phone route and no online route.

MAG's guidance is that you only need to act if your booking is due within 72 hours. For anyone travelling this weekend, that 72 hour window runs straight through the closure. If you need a change and you are flying before Tuesday, Friday afternoon is your window.

If you miss it, your booking still stands for the dates you originally booked. You simply cannot alter it until Tuesday.

If your dates have moved and you still need to park: your original booking only covers the window you booked, so it may not let you in on different dates. With amendments unavailable until Tuesday, the practical option is to arrange cover for the dates you actually need. Your original booking is unlikely to be refunded, so only do this if you cannot travel without parking.

Check Parking for Your New Dates

What Happened

Manchester Airports Group, which owns and runs Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports, was targeted by an unauthorised third party. According to the group, the intrusion took place shortly before it was discovered on Tuesday 25 August, and the incident was made public on Thursday 27 August.

MAG says it restricted access to the affected systems as soon as it became aware, brought in outside cyber security specialists, and notified the relevant authorities. The group has also said that the attackers demanded money and that it refused to pay. It has not named the group responsible or explained how they got in.

What Data Was Taken

The compromised system holds customer records from four services across the three airports:

  • Car park bookings
  • Lounge bookings
  • Fast Track bookings
  • In airport WiFi sign ups

The fields taken were email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registration numbers and postcodes. MAG has said that for the large majority of people affected, an email address was the only detail exposed.

No card numbers, bank details or passwords were involved. The group's position is that neither the company nor the breached system stores payment information in the first place.

Was I Affected?

If you have booked parking, a lounge or Fast Track at Manchester, Stansted or East Midlands, or if you have connected to the free WiFi in any of those terminals, your details may sit in the affected system. The WiFi one is easy to forget and it is much the widest net of the four. You do not need to have flown recently for a record to exist.

MAG says it has emailed affected customers directly. Be careful with that, because it creates ideal cover for fake versions of the same email. Read the next section before you click anything that claims to be from the airport.

Is My Parking Booking Still Valid?

Yes. Every upcoming booking stands and nothing has been cancelled. Car parks are operating as normal, entry systems are unaffected, and there is no disruption to flights or terminals. Take your confirmation email with you as you normally would.

The incident hit a customer data system rather than the operational systems that run the airport.

I Need to Change or Cancel a Booking

What you should do depends on when you are travelling.

Travelling this weekend, booking is fine as it is

Do nothing. Drive in as planned and your booking will work.

Travelling this weekend and you need a change

Call 0208 163 8001 before 17:00 on Friday 28 August. Expect to wait, as MAG has said call times are longer than usual. After Friday evening the next opportunity is Tuesday 1 September, which will be after you fly.

Travelling after Tuesday 1 September

You have time. Call from Tuesday morning, or wait for Manage My Booking to return. Expect Tuesday to be busy, since it absorbs four days of backlog.

You have not booked parking yet

Booking is unaffected and you can still book directly with the airport as normal. It is also worth comparing off airport operators, particularly over a bank holiday weekend when on site spaces get tight and prices rise. See our Manchester Airport parking guide for a full comparison of the options.

Check Parking Availability & Prices

The Scam Risk, and Why This Breach Is Worse Than It Looks

Plenty of people have looked at this and concluded that because no financial data was taken there is nothing to worry about. That underrates it.

The combination that leaked is unusually useful for fraud: your email address, your phone number, your postcode, your car's registration, and the knowledge that you have a booking at a named airport. That is more than enough to write a message that reads exactly like a real one.

Fake messages to expect over the coming weeks

  • An unpaid drop off charge or parking penalty quoting your actual registration number
  • A claim that your booking needs re confirming because of the incident, with a payment link
  • A refund or compensation offer for the breach that asks for your bank details so they can pay you
  • A phone call from someone claiming to be MAG customer services, which is more believable than usual right now because the real line is genuinely hard to reach

The rule that identifies a fake parking charge

Genuine parking charges are only ever sent by post. Not by text, not by email, not by phone call. The contact details you need are inside the letter itself, and that is a British Parking Association standard rather than a company preference.

So any text or email telling you that you owe money for parking at Manchester Airport is fake. It does not matter how official it looks.

This is the part worth paying attention to. A correct registration number used to be reasonable evidence that a message was genuine, because who else would know it. After this breach, it proves nothing at all. Roughly 8.7 million registrations, postcodes and phone numbers are now in unknown hands, so a message quoting your car correctly tells you only that someone has the leaked file.

Be careful searching for a phone number this weekend

This one is specific to the next few days. The official line is unreachable until Tuesday, so people will go looking for another number, and fake parking numbers are already a known problem at Manchester.

Earlier this year a couple who forgot to pay a drop off charge at the airport found a number online, called it, and were told to pay £170. The company that runs the car park had no record of them at all.

Only use numbers published on the airport's own website. Do not use a number from a search result, a sponsored ad, a directory site or a message you were sent. If a number you have called asks for card details over the phone, hang up.

One rule defeats nearly all of this. Manchester Airports Group will never contact you out of the blue to ask for card details, banking information or passwords. If a message asks for any of those, it is not them.

If something arrives and you are unsure, do not use the links or phone numbers inside the message. Go to the airport's own website yourself and use the contact details published there.

Suspicious emails can be forwarded to the National Cyber Security Centre at [email protected], and scam text messages can be forwarded free to 7726. Fraud can be reported to Action Fraud.

Can I Claim Compensation?

Claims firms began advertising for this within a day of the announcement, so you will see plenty of adverts. A few things are worth knowing before you sign anything.

Under UK data protection law you can seek compensation for distress without having to prove you lost money. Whether a claim succeeds depends on establishing that the organisation failed to keep the data secure, which is not automatic simply because a breach happened.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, which costs nothing. The difference matters: the ICO can investigate and fine an organisation, but it does not pay compensation to individuals. Compensation comes from a claim against the company, either directly or through a firm.

If you do use a claims firm, check whether they are a regulated solicitor, what percentage they take from any award, and what happens if the claim fails. There is no deadline pressure in the next few days, whatever the adverts imply.

Is It Safe to Fly?

Yes. MAG has been consistent that passenger safety and aviation security were never compromised, and that no operational airport system was involved. Security screening, check in and flight operations are running normally at Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands.

Updates

  • Manage My Booking remains offline. Customer services close at 17:00 today and do not reopen until Tuesday 1 September because of the bank holiday weekend.
  • MAG publishes its statement and FAQ. Reports put the number of affected customers at around 8.7 million.
  • MAG becomes aware of the incident and begins containment.

Official Sources

Manchester Airport Info is an independent guide. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Manchester Airport, Manchester Airports Group or any of its subsidiaries. We will never ask you for payment details, banking information or passwords. For official information about this incident, go to manchesterairport.co.uk.