Holidaymakers faced travel misery on Sunday as a major power outage forced Manchester Airport to cancel all flights from two terminals.
The blackout triggered scenes of chaos, with passengers left stranded amid massive queues and a breakdown in baggage handling systems.
In a social media post on Sunday, the airport said no flights would be departing from terminals one and two “until further notice” following the outage, which hit systems in the early hours of the morning.
Meanwhile, those booked on flights from Terminal 3 were advised to proceed as planned, despite some earlier delays. However, the airport stressed that passengers should check with their carriers before setting off.
A quarter of all flights from Manchester Airport were cancelled due to the chaos on Sunday.
By lunchtime 66 outbound flights and 50 inbound arrivals were axed, according to aviation analytics company Cirium, equating to 25 per cent of all departures and 18 per cent of arrivals.
#ManchesterAirport @manairport right now. Utter chaos at Terminal One. pic.twitter.com/L6o2Dwg26O
— Chris Shaw (@The_ChrisShaw) June 23, 2024
The chaos also caused huge queues and disruption to baggage processing, with reports of instances where some passengers’ bags were not on flights.
Airline easyJet, which operates flights from terminal one, said there were “very long queues” for security and disruption to hold baggage processing, meaning passengers could board flights only with cabin luggage.
It said: “Although outside of our control, we would like to apologise for any inconvenience experienced as a result.
“We are doing all we can and working closely with the airport team to minimise the disruption.”
Meanwhile, a number of arriving flights were being diverted to other airports.
An Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport was diverted to Birmingham Airport.
The airport said: “We apologise for any inconvenience and aim to restore normal service as soon as possible.”
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “Following a site-wide power outage at Manchester Airport, baggage systems are currently not operational.
ℹ️ 23.06.24 - 1:30pm
— Manchester Airport (@manairport) June 23, 2024
A message from Manchester Airport's Managing Director, Chris Woodroofe. pic.twitter.com/JDCwaSNRm7
“Our teams are working closely with the airport authorities and are keeping our customers up to date with the latest information.
“Virgin Atlantic flights are currently departing but may be subject to minor delays.”
Footage shared on social media shows a large number of people waiting for updates to their flights at the terminals.
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport said: "A significant number of flights today are likely to be cancelled.
— Manchester Airport (@manairport) June 23, 2024
"The advice is for passengers expecting to travel today not to come to the airport without having checked with their airline first."
Manchester Airport has been updating its instructions on Sunday morning.
An updated statement added: “We are working to get passengers already at the airport onto their flight
“The disruption caused by the outage means in some instances that baggage may not be on those flights.
“We will work with airlines to make sure passengers are reunited with baggage that is not on their flight as soon as possible.”
Angry passengers have been making their displeasure known on social media.
Power cut at Manchester Airport T2 & T3 landed at all been brought to T1 baggage thrown on any carousel no communication at all prams just left on the floor without being told @TUIUK reps didn’t have a clue what was happening. Good Luck everyone! pic.twitter.com/jgCFVJc796
— Katie Phillips (@katie_seaman) June 23, 2024
Katie Phillips tweeted: “Power cut at Manchester Airport T2 & T3 landed at all been brought to T1 baggage thrown on any carousel no communication at all prams just left on the floor without being told. TUI reps didn’t have a clue what was happening. Good luck everyone!”
Chris Shaw on Twitter called the scenes “utter chaos”.
Joe added: “Power cut across all 3 terminals today at Manchester Airport. Not a clue what’s going to happen to all flights.”
Shortly after 3pm, Manchester Airport said it was in the process of resuming operations, saying flights on Monday “should be unaffected”.
It apologised for any inconvenience caused.
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