Flights are set to depart from two Manchester Airport terminals following travel chaos

Flights have started from Manchester Airport’s two main terminals after a “major power outage” caused travel chaos for passengers.

The airport said in a post on X that it is “now in the process of resuming operations.”

It added: “It remains important that passengers contact their airline before traveling to the airport.

“We are also working closely with airlines to reschedule canceled flights in the coming days. Flights scheduled for tomorrow remain unaffected and passengers traveling should arrive at the airport as usual.”

Previously, the facility had said all flights from Terminals 1 and 2 had been canceled “until further notice” and passengers were advised not to come to the site.

Travelers scheduled to fly out of Terminal 3 were largely unaffected.

It was understood the power outage in the early hours of Sunday only affected the airport, after initially being thought to have affected a wider area.

Passengers already at the airport faced massive delays, with images showing huge queues of people.

There have been cases where some people’s luggage was not present on flights.

Chris Woodroofe, chief executive of Manchester Airport, apologized for the chaos and said a “fault in a cable had caused a power surge which knocked out security systems and baggage checks”.

He stated that “about 20% of our flights have been canceled so far”, adding: “Tomorrow (Monday) we very much hope to carry out a fully planned operation.”

Mr Woodroofe said there will be an investigation into what happened.

Vacationer Lindsay Mitchell was hopeful she and her family would be able to fly to Turkey later today for a trip that had been planned for a year.

She would go with her husband, daughter, son, her son’s girlfriend, her daughter’s boyfriend, her nieces, her sister and her two granddaughters.

Ms Mitchell told Sky News: “We were advised not to travel to Manchester Airport this morning but we thought we’d give it a go as our flight isn’t until tea time, fingers crossed.”

She added: “You have to make the best of a bad situation. It’s not the airline’s fault, it’s not Manchester Airport’s fault, it’s no one’s fault, it’s just one of those crazy things that happen in the happen in everyday life.”

Another passenger, Hayden Lewis, said his flight to the Greek island of Skiathos was canceled after he had been at the airport for about five hours.

He later headed to Birmingham Airport after being dropped off by his father and hopes to reach his holiday destination.

Mr Lewis told Sky News: “Our flight was canceled after we had been at the airport for about five hours. We left without any idea when they would leave [the airline] could get us there, so we took matters into our own hands and are now at Birmingham Airport on our way to the right destination.

“We went to Skiathos for nine nights. We traveled from Halifax to Manchester. We are now in Birmingham thanks to my dad who picked us up from Manchester and dropped us off in Birmingham. All because easyJet don’t know when they can get us back but want us to We will continue to monitor the app (along with thousands of others).”

EasyJet, which operates flights from Terminal 1 at Manchester Airport, said there were “very long queues” for security and disruption to baggage processing, meaning passengers could only board with hand luggage.

It said: “Although out of our control, we would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused us.

“We are doing everything we can and working closely with the airport team to keep disruption to a minimum.”

Meanwhile, a number of arriving flights were previously diverted to other airports.

One Singapore Airlines flight arriving in Texas from Houston was forced to go to London Heathrow, while another, arriving from Singapore, was forced to land at London Gatwick.

An Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport was diverted to Birmingham Airport.

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A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “Following a power outage across the site at Manchester Airport, the baggage systems are currently not operational.

“Our teams are working closely with the airport authorities and keeping our customers informed of the latest information.

“Virgin Atlantic flights are currently departing, but may experience minor delays.”