Manchester Airport is expected to ‘operate as usual’ today after a major power outage caused chaos for passengers on Sunday.
The disruption, which hit the airport in the early hours of yesterday morning (June 23), threw thousands of passengers’ travel plans into turmoil as flights from Terminals 1 and 2 were suspended ‘until further notice’. Passengers were told to stay away due to the widespread disruption.
Power was later restored, but baggage and security systems remained affected throughout the day, causing thousands of people to experience delays and cancellations. Passengers also faced “very long queues” at security checkpoints and photos showed huge piles of luggage piling up.
READ NEXT: Power outage at Manchester Airport: what went wrong?
Although the airport’s backup generator kicked in when the main system failed, the situation was complicated by power being shut off and then resumed several times. Much like restarting a computer that hasn’t been properly shut down, getting back to normal proved difficult.
Chris Woodroofe, director of Manchester Airport, said there had been ‘a major power surge’ in the airport’s electrical system due to ‘a fault’. “That damaged some very important equipment for our departure security and our departure baggage systems,” he added.
He offered his ‘sincere apologies’ to those affected at the airport. “It’s a very difficult situation, I’m not sorry anymore,” he said.
In the latest update, issued around 9pm last night, a message on the official Manchester Airport Passengers should still check the status of their flight before traveling.
The airport added that airlines will contact passengers to re-arrange canceled flights, and that baggage agents will work to ensure that luggage that did not make it onto flights is “reunited” with passengers “as quickly as possible.” The post said: “We would like to apologize to everyone affected by the disruption in Terminals 1 and 2 today.
“[Monday’s] The flight schedule is expected to operate normally, with check-in two hours before the flight for short distances and three hours for long distances. It is always advisable to check the status of your flight before traveling to the airport.
“Airlines will contact passengers to re-arrange canceled flights, while we work with airlines, their baggage handlers and other partners to ensure that passengers whose luggage did not make the flight are reunited with their belongings as quickly as possible.
“We thank passengers for their patience today and we would also like to thank all our employees, airlines and external partners for their hard work and resilience.”
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06:59Ashlie Blakey
‘Through check-in and security in 15 minutes this morning’
This passenger said things went smoothly at the Jet2 check-in counters this morning.
They were through baggage control and security within 15 minutes.
06:55Ashlie Blakey
What went wrong at the airport yesterday?
Although the airport’s backup generator kicked in when the main system failed, the situation was complicated by power being shut off and then resumed several times.
Much like restarting a computer that hasn’t been properly shut down, getting back to normal proved difficult.
The airport is the size of a small town and in fact has its own power supply, separate from the power that feeds surrounding areas such as Wythenshawe and Styal.
That supply failed, but was subsequently resumed. The surge of returning power — which airport officials say may have occurred more than once — damaged physical infrastructure.
The combination of a power outage and damaged infrastructure complicated engineers’ efforts to get the airport operational again.
Read the full story about what went wrong here.
06:44Ashlie Blakey
Update from Manchester Airport last night at 9pm
This was the last update from Manchester Airport last night at 9pm.
Bosses said today’s schedule is ‘expected to proceed as normal without further disruption’.