Misery for Holidaymakers after Cyberattack on Agent
31 Jul 13:00 by Lucy Cinder
British holidaymakers saw their travel plans ruined after flights were cancelled in an alleged cyberattack.
Flight Office, an online travel agent based in Slough, is said to have had its internal systems hacked late last month, leading to air tickets being cancelled. Passengers who were due to travel say the travel agent made no attempt to contact them or inform them about the attack.
Susan Court, from Danbury, near Chelmsford, paid £1,023 for her son Andrew, 21, to fly with Iberia to Santiago, via Madrid. “When we went to log in on the Iberia website, it said the booking reference could not be found.
“I called Flight Office who said they had been the victim of a cyberattack at the end of June and that the tickets had been cancelled.” According to Mrs Court, Flight Office said it had not made contact because Iberia had agreed it would try to help resolve the situation.
Iberia confirmed the ticket had been cancelled after it was booked at a later date. A last-minute replacement ticket, booked using a different travel agent, cost a further £2,770. Despite promises by Flight Office, she has yet to receive a refund for the original ticket.
Flight Office is the trading name of Travelopedia, which holds a valid Air Travel Organiser’s Licence, allowing it to sell holidays with flights included. It is not known how many passengers have been affected, but other travellers took to Trustpilot, the review website, to vent their frustration.
Flight Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: thetimes