Luton-based EasyJet hit by cyber attack as nine million customers' details stolen

• Video report by ITV News Anglia's Russell Hookey

The Luton-based budget airline EasyJet has revealed that the personal details of nine million customers have been accessed by hackers in a "highly sophisticated attack."

In a statement, the airline said there was "no evidence that any personal information of any nature has been misused."

According to the company, criminals got hold of the email addresses and travel details of nine million customers, as well as the credit card details of just over 2,200 people.

EasyJet confirmed that apart from those 2,208 people, the credit card and passport details of everyone else wasn't accessed.

"There is no evidence that any personal information of any nature has been misused, however .. we are communicating with the approximately 9 million customers whose travel details were accessed to advise them of protective steps to minimise any risk of potential phishing," a spokesperson said.

"We're sorry that this has happened, and we would like to reassure customers that we take the safety and security of their information very seriously.

"EasyJet is in the process of contacting the relevant customers directly and affected customers will be notified no later than 26th of May."

EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren apologised to customers and said the airline was taking the attack "very seriously."

"We take the cyber security of our systems very seriously and have robust security measures in place to protect our customers' personal information," he said.

"Every business must continue to stay agile to stay ahead of the threat. We will continue to invest in protecting our customers, our systems and our data. We would like to apologise to those customers who have been affected by this incident."