Power outage halts all flights from two Manchester Airport terminals – BBC News

All flights from the two main terminals at Manchester Airport have been canceled after a “significant power outage” caused widespread disruption

Passengers traveling through Terminals 1 and 2 have been told to stay away after the disruption occurred in the early hours, affecting baggage and security systems.

An airport spokesperson said all flights from those terminals have been canceled “until further notice.”

Large queues have formed at the airport, the UK’s largest outside London, and more than 100 outbound flights have already been canceled and inbound flights diverted.

Passengers flying through Terminal 3 should arrive at the airport as normal, but may experience delays, an airport spokesperson said.

Flights from those already at the airport would be prioritized as efforts to “clear that backlog” continue, a spokesperson said.

The airport told the BBC that incoming flights had been diverted because “planes were unable to take off” due to limited space.

This made it more difficult to accept aircraft, which would be sent elsewhere, the spokesperson added.

The airport’s emergency power systems came on when the main system failed, but the situation was complicated by multiple mains power failures.

Airlines have said problems with baggage processing meant customers could board with only carry-on luggage.

In a statement, Jet2 said handlers were unable to load luggage onto planes due to the disruption.

Meanwhile, an Easyjet spokesperson said passengers could only board with hand luggage due to problems with the baggage system.

The disruption comes at the start of the summer holiday season at Britain’s third busiest airport, which has apologized to passengers.

An airport source said the power outage “literally took out everything”.

Bobbi Hadgraft, who is traveling to see England at the 2024 European Championship, told BBC Radio Manchester that she arrived at the airport around 4am BST and saw “huge queues” outside Terminal 1.

“We were afraid we would miss our flight,” she said, adding that the power outage had affected display boards and scanners, so staff had to direct passengers around the venue.

Olwyn Hocking said one staff member looked like they were trying to hide as “hundreds and hundreds of people poured into the airport with no idea there was a problem”.

She said it was “chaos.”

Balázs Fazeka, who was due to fly to Montenegro for a week-long holiday with his wife and an eight-month-old baby, arrived at 2am BST and, after waiting in line for eight hours, discovered that the flight had been cancelled.

“There are bigger problems in life than this,” he said, but added that the lack of communication from the airport was “quite frustrating.”

Another passenger, Phillip Banfield, said his plane took off while he was stuck after going through passport control.

He said he was surrounded by a “huge number of stranded passengers wondering how they would continue their journey.”

It would have been “virtually impossible” to get through check-in and security, which was only feasible if you were carrying only carry-on luggage, he added.

Many passengers are trying to find out what their rights are if a flight is canceled or delayed.

Social media has been filled with complaints about long queues at check-in counters and passport control, as well as a lack of communication from staff amid the ‘chaos’.

Photos and video showed long lines of people, some waiting in near darkness.

The airport said electricity went out around 1:30 a.m. but has since been restored, although it would take some time to get the systems operational again.

Additional reporting by Aleks Phillips