BURST
Kelowna International Airport is investigating after its public address system and flight information display screens were hacked Tuesday evening to display pro-Hamas messages.
Airport CEO Sam Samaddar said the airport is back to normal and fully operational on Wednesday, and an investigation is underway to find out what happened.
“With any kind of these incidents, we want to understand the root cause of what caused it,” he said.
Kelowna Intl Airport’s displays & PA system were hacked with pro-Hamas messaging.
— Tara Armstrong (@TaraArmstrongBC) October 15, 2025
As someone with years of experience working in airport ops, this is deeply alarming.
This isn’t just a tech issue - it’s a serious safety & security breach. Time for a cybersecurity wake-up call… https://t.co/kYuB68Qbpj
At around 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, a third party “gained access” to display screens and the PA system, said the airport.
Most of the display screens commandeered by the hacker were in the main terminal concourse and in the departure area.
Videos and photos posted on social media by confused and shocked passengers showed text on TV screens claiming “Israel lost the war” and “Hamas won” and referred to U.S. president Donald Trump as a pig. A male voice speaking in Arabic could also be heard over the speakers.
The hacked messages lasted between two and three minutes before staff removed it.
🚨BREAKING: Kelowna airport loudspeakers play Arabic chants and screens show pro-Hamas messages. ⁰⁰Terrorist propaganda has no place in BC. ⁰⁰This security failure is embarrassing and UNACCEPTABLE.https://t.co/JVvSN0zQoi
— Macklin McCall (@mack4change) October 15, 2025
Samaddar said the airport has a response protocol to deal with cyberattacks. “Those are plans we rehearsed, we practised on, we were able to isolate it very, very quickly.”
The hack was isolated to the public information messaging system, and “didn’t migrate to any other portions of the airport or the aviation system,” he added.
Samaddar said RCMP determined the hack was not a threat against the airport or against aviation, allowing the airport to continue operating Tuesday night.
Two flights were delayed. One flight was delayed for two hours, the other by four.
Kelowna airport has notified Transport Canada and the Centre for Cybersecurity in Ottawa about the incident.