Etihad Airways experienced a significant operational disruption due to a cyber-related incident, causing delays in its services. The airline’s systems were compromised, forcing staff to manually assist passengers with check-in procedures. Technicians were actively engaged in restoring the affected systems to normal operation, but the incident led to inconveniences for travelers, including potential missed connections or extended wait times. The statement issued by Etihad acknowledged the delay as being beyond their control, implying a technical failure or cyber interference. While no explicit mention of data breaches, ransomware, or financial losses was made, the disruption to core operational systems—such as check-in—suggests a severe impact on service delivery, reputation, and customer trust. The incident highlights vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, potentially affecting the airline’s ability to maintain seamless operations and raising concerns about the resilience of its IT systems against cyber threats.

The personal details of around seven thousand individuals from Etihad’s loyalty program were sent to the Gulf News by an anonymous source. The breach was a result of an attack on a third party that worked with the airline in 2013 to run a promotional campaign The leaked information included the names, email addresses, phone numbers, and IP addresses of the customers.