JOHANNESBURG – South African Airways (SAA) confirmed on Tuesday that it has restored normal operations following a “significant cyber incident” that began on 3 May and disrupted access to its website, mobile app, and several internal systems.
In a statement, the airline said it promptly activated its disaster management and business continuity protocols, which helped contain the breach and limit disruption to flight operations. During the outage, customer engagements and bookings were managed through call centres and sales offices, which remained operational.
“The security and integrity of our business systems and the protection of the consumer data entrusted to us remain our highest priority,” said SAA Group CEO John Lamola.
While details of the breach have not been disclosed, the airline has launched a forensic investigation and submitted statutory reports to the State Security Agency, the police, and the Information Regulator, in line with its status as a national key point. SAA said affected parties will be contacted directly, though the full extent of any potential data compromise is still being assessed.
The nature of the attack remains unclear, including whether it involved ransomware — a growing concern in South Africa, where both public and private sector organisations have seen increased cyber threats over the past year.
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