The Cathay Pacific passenger data compromised by hackers included passport and ID card numbers, credit card informatiion, phone numbers, emails and physical addresses


Other compromised passenger data included nationalities, dates of births, phone numbers, emails, and physical addresses.

"We have no evidence that any personal data has been misused. No-one's travel or loyalty profile was accessed in full, and no passwords were compromised," chief executive Rupert Hogg said in a statement Wednesday.

- Probe launched -

But Mok said the public needs to know how the company can prove that was the case.

"Such a statement doesn't give people absolute confidence that we are completely safe, and it doesn't mean that some of this data would not be misused later," Mok told AFP.

He also pointed out that the the European Unionґs new General Data Protection Regulation says any such breach should be reported within 72 hours.

Hong Kong's privacy commissioner Stephen Wong expressed "serious concern" over the breach in a statement Thursday and said the office would initiate a compliance check with the airline.

"Organisations in general that amass and derive benefits from personal data should ditch the mindset of conducting their operations to meet the minimum regulatory requirements only," Wong said.

"They should instead be held to a higher ethical standard that meets the stakeholders' expectations alongside the requirements of laws and regulations," he added.

Cathay said it had launched an investigation and alerted the police after an ongoing IT operation revealed unauthorised access of systems containing the passenger data.

The company is in the process of contacting affected passengers and providing them with solutions to protect themselves.

The troubled airline is already battling to stem major losses as it comes under pressure from lower-cost Chinese carriers and Middle East rivals.

It booked its first back-to-back annual loss in its seven-decade history in March, and has previously pledged to cut 600 staff including a quarter of its management as part of its biggest overhaul in years.