Japan Airlines Faces Cyberattack

Japan Airlines (JAL) confirmed it is grappling with system disruptions caused by a cyberattack, resulting in the suspension of ticket sales and delays for several domestic flights.

The airline temporarily halted ticket sales for both domestic and international departures on Thursday due to the incident.

According to a statement by JAL, 24 domestic flights experienced delays exceeding 30 minutes as of 11 a.m. local time.

However, the airline assured that the issue did not compromise flight safety or affect international services.

JAL announced via a post on Platform X that the disruptions began early Thursday morning, and the root cause was identified just before 9 a.m. The problematic router triggering the issues has since been temporarily shut down.

JAL’s stock initially plummeted by 2.5% during Thursday morning trading in Tokyo. However, it regained some ground, trading at a reduced loss of 0.9% as of 1:24 p.m.

Although Christmas Day is not an official holiday in Japan, the glitch coincides with a busy travel period as many take year-end vacations and winter travel peaks.

This cyber incident follows a recent disruption in the US, where American Airlines reported a brief ground stop on Christmas Eve.