EasyJet said Tuesday that it was the target of a “highly sophisticated” cyberattack that exposed the email addresses and personal travel plans of about 9m customers, and that some had their credit card details stolen. The airline said that as soon as it became aware of the attack, it took immediate steps to manage and investigate it, and closed off the breach. The company said the investigation showed that the credit card details of 2,208 customers were breached. Customers whose personal information is at risk would be contacted by May 26, the airline said. Passport information was not affected, it said. “We take the cybersecurity of our systems very seriously and have robust security measures in place to protect our customers’ personal information,” easyJet’s CEO Johan Lundgren said. “However, this is an evolving threat as cyberattackers get ever more sophisticated.” Since the spread of the coronavirus, there has been heightened concern that stolen personal data could be used for online scams, Lundgren said. The airline advised customers “to be extra vigilant, particularly if they receive unsolicited communications.”<br/>
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Hacking tools and techniques used to access the travel records of millions of customers of Britain’s easyJet point to a group of suspected Chinese hackers thought to be behind multiple attacks on airlines in recent months, two people familiar with the investigation said. EasyJet said earlier on Tuesday that hackers had accessed the email and travel details of around nine million customers, as well as the credit card details of more than 2,000 of them, in a “highly sophisticated” attack. The two people with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the attack appeared to be part of a series by suspected Chinese hackers aimed at the bulk theft of travel records and other data.<br/>
Virgin Australia Holdings' administrators have shortlisted potential buyers BGH Capital, Bain Capital, Indigo Partners and Cyrus Capital Partners, a source with knowledge of the matter said. The airline's administrators were expected to receive as many as eight non-binding indicative offers from potential buyers before a submission deadline last Friday. Binding offers for the carrier, which is 10%-owned by Singapore Airlines, are due on June 12. The company entered voluntary administration last month, owing creditors nearly A$7b, making it the biggest Asia-Pacific casualty of the coronavirus crisis hitting the global aviation industry. The strong interest in Virgin Australia at a time when the world aviation market is largely grounded shows the long-time attractiveness of the Australian domestic market, a duopoly between Qantas Airways and Virgin. The administrators at Deloitte said in a statement that they had shortlisted a small number of well-funded parties with strong aviation credentials but declined to name them. Bain, which owns Trans Maldivian Airways, is being advised on its Virgin offer by Jayne Hrdlicka, the former head of Qantas budget airline Jetstar, according to media reports. One of BGH's founders, Ben Gray, led a failed takeover offer for Qantas in 2007 when he worked at private equity giant TPG. Indigo Partners' founder Bill Franke is the chairman of US carrier Frontier Airlines, Chile's JetSmart and Hungarian Wizz Air. Cyrus Capital was an investor in collapsed British regional carrier FlyBe, alongside Virgin Atlantic.<br/>
South Africa’s Comair has “reasonable prospects” of surviving, its administrators said on Tuesday after the airline sought a form of bankruptcy protection earlier this month. Comair, which operates the local BA franchise and budget airline kulula.com, entered a “business rescue” after a lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus forced South African airlines to halt all commercial passenger flights. Comair is not factually insolvent and has assets of 7.4b rand ($407.1m) versus 5.5b rand of liabilities, the company said Tuesday. Its administrators will probably publish a business rescue plan on June 9, it added.<br/>
Cebu Air, the parent company of Cebu Pacific, is reviewing its long-term fleet plans, and has begun discussions with suppliers “to establish flexibility to adapt to current events”. In line with anticpated lower aircraft utilisation in future, the company will also defer previously planned aircraft capital expenditures, it said in a 15 May stock exchange disclosure to allay media reports about its financial health. Captial expenditure will be reduced from Ps28b ($552m) to Ps13b, and non-disrectionary spending cut. “We have likewise started discussions with government, seeking support through grants and loans alongside fee waivers and regulatory relief,” it says. The company says that compared with other low-cost carriers, its fleet growth plan was already conservative, at 8-9% over five years.<br/>
Malaysia’s state-owned cargo carrier MAB Kargo has seen “impressive” profits since February, its CEO said, helped by the country’s role as the world’s biggest producer of medical gloves. The company raised freight rates by as much as 50% in some cases and added capacity on high-demand routes as it also saw high-volume shipments of face masks and medical gowns during the coronavirus pandemic, CE Ibrahim Mohamed Salleh said. The company declined to give profit figures. “We ran our numbers and it makes money,” Ibrahim said. Malaysia’s medical glove exports are expected to jump about 32% to 225b pieces this year, and its gloves association said supplies were being urgently air-lifted to Europe, Australia, Canada and America as customers did not want to wait for the usual sea route. MAB Kargo’s performance during the pandemic contrasts with sister company Malaysia Airlines which has been forced to ground most of its planes as the coronavirus hammered global travel. MAB Kargo typically contributes 10-15% towards the revenue of the holding company Malaysia Aviation Group, but has started contributing up to 25% in the past few months, Ibrahim said.<br/>