Cyberattack Disrupts Japan Airlines Flight Operations, Forces Tickets Suspension

Japan Airlines has suffered a major cyberattack, which hit both internal and external systems of the airline company.

A cyber attack on Japan Airlines systems forced the suspension of ticket sales.

Source : Instagram@japanairlines

Japan Airlines (JAL) on Thursday morning fell victim to a major cyberattack, disrupting both its internal and external systems. The incident began at 7:24 AM local time, reported news agency Reuters. "A system malfunction has been occurring in the network equipment that connects the company and its customers since 7:24 AM today. This is expected to affect both domestic and international flights... We apologise for any inconvenience caused," JAL stated in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.  

Although the airline acknowledged the breach, a company representative noted there were no immediate updates about possible delays or cancellations. As Japan's second-largest airline, following All Nippon Airways (ANA), JAL joins a growing list of Japanese companies targeted by cybercriminals.

As per Reuters, the system malfunction forced the suspension of ticket sales for the day.

About an hour later, the airline posted: "We identified the cause of the problem at 8:56 AM and took action. We are currently checking the system recovery status. In addition, sales have been suspended for both domestic and international flights departing today."

In 2022, a cyberattack on a Toyota supplier halted operations, forcing the automaker to shut down production at its domestic plants for an entire day.  

Earlier this year, in June, Niconico, a widely-used video-sharing platform in Japan, had to suspend its services after a large-scale cyberattack, according to the platform’s operator.  

This latest attack also echoes an incident at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) earlier this year, where a suspected cyberattack led to a web systems outage, causing significant delays and operational disruptions at the Port of Seattle.