LONDON: All flights from Terminals 1 and 2 at the UK’s Manchester Airport have been cancelled after a power cut in the area caused widespread disruption, airport authorities said in a statement on Sunday.
The airport also said on social media platform X passengers due to fly from Terminal 3 should come to the airport as normal unless advised otherwise by their airline but could be affected by delays.
At least 20 per cent of all outgoing and incoming flights were cancelled, a Manchester Airport spokesperson said, adding that it expected further disruption.
Earlier aviation analytics firm Cirium said 66 departures and 50 inbound flights had been cancelled with easyJet experiencing the largest number of cancellations.
The power cut led to problems with airport security and baggage systems, according to Chris Woodroofe, the airport managing director. Flights resumed in the afternoon.
Woodroofe said on social media he expected flights to be "back to normal operations" on Monday.
Dubai’s Emirates delayed its Manchester to Dubai flight, EK020, due to operational reasons. It will now operate as EK8022 on June 24. The airline is currently rebooking customers to their final destinations and providing updated itineraries at www.emirates.com/M.
"Due to operational reasons, this flight has been delayed and will now operate as EK8022 on June 24. Customers are being rebooked to their final destination and will receive the updated itinerary shortly. Customers can view their updated itinerary on www.emirates.com/MYB," the airline said in a statement on its website.
The flight tracker on Etihad's website showed EY16 also awaiting updates.
Terminal 1 accommodates Aer Lingus, easyJet, Emirates, Etihad, and Turkish Airlines, while Terminal 2 serves Air France, Cathay Pacific, KLM, Singapore Airlines, Tui, and Virgin Atlantic. Jet2 and Aer Lingus operate from both terminals.
Flights diverted
Manchester Airports Group, which also operates London Stansted and the East Midlands airports, said the airport had been “affected by a major power cut in the area earlier this morning” and passengers at two of the three terminals were told to stay away.
"We will work with airlines and handling partners to reunite affected passengers with their luggage as soon as possible", the group added.
The airline Jet2 - which operates from both terminals - said that as well as cancelling dozens of flights, it was unable to load bags onto planes as the airport's baggage system remained "inoperable".
Airline easyJet, which operates flights from Terminal One, warned of "very long queues" for security, and said passengers could only board flights with cabin bags. In addition, some arriving flights were being diverted to other airports according to the airport statement, including London Heathrow and Birmingham.
The Manchester Airports Group, which also operates London Stansted and the East Midlands airports, earlier said Manchester Airport had been “affected by a major power cut in the area earlier this morning.” “This has caused widespread disruption,” the group said on social media.
Passengers for Terminal Three were told to come to the airport as normal but warned they “could be affected by delays”.
Some flyers took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to describe the “chaos”, with one passenger saying there was “baggage thrown on any carousel” and another saying they were “stuck on the plane”.
The UK’s travel industry has been hit by a series of disruptions in the last few years, including technical problems and industrial action affecting rail and air passengers.
Last month, a nationwide outage of immigration e-gates caused long delays for thousands of passengers.
In August last year, the country faced its worst air traffic control disruption in almost ten years due to a technical fault.
