Lagatar24 Desk
Tokyo: Japan Airlines (JAL) suffered a cyberattack on Thursday, disrupting domestic and international flights and forcing the airline to suspend ticket sales.
In a statement on X, Japan’s flagship carrier reported a system malfunction in its internal and external networks at 7:24 am local time, apologizing for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
“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 will notify you in our next announcement as soon as we have confirmed the situation. We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” the airline said.
Cause Identified, Actions Taken
By 8:56 am local time, JAL identified the root cause of the issue—a malfunctioning router—and temporarily shut it down. The airline also suspended ticket sales for all domestic and international flights scheduled for departure that day as it worked to resolve the situation.
“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. We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” the airline tweeted.
About Japan Airlines
Established on August 1, 1951, Japan Airlines began as a private company before transitioning into a state-owned entity. It was fully privatized in 1987.
The airline’s primary hubs include Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda airports, along with Osaka’s Kansai and Itami airports.
