Despite Power Being Restored at Manchester Airport, Numerous Passengers Remain Impacted

An incident of major power failure occurred at Manchester Airport during the weekend, leading to ongoing repercussions with numerous passengers still facing issues on Monday.

The power outage disrupted electronic systems and computers at the airport early on Sunday, causing the cancellation of 70 departing flights and 50 arrivals, as reported by aviation analytics company Cirium.

For several hours, two out of three terminals at Manchester Airport experienced a complete halt in flights, resulting in long queues and heightened tensions among passengers.

Travel journalist Simon Calder expressed on the social media platform X, “Manchester airport: 20,000 passengers woke up in the wrong place this morning after 140 flights were cancelled on Sunday.”

He added, “Stranded travelers should be promptly flown to their destinations, ideally with their luggage.”

While several flights managed to depart with passengers onboard, their baggage could not be checked in due to the power outage.

Jet2.com mentioned that it may take time for all baggage to reach their rightful owners.

Currently, flights are back to normal operation on Monday with only a few cancellations remaining.

Manchester Airport issued an apology to all those affected by Sunday’s power outage in a statement.

The statement emphasized, “Airlines will be contacting passengers to reschedule cancelled flights as we collaborate with airlines, their baggage handling partners, and other stakeholders to ensure passengers are reunited with their belongings promptly.”

‘Power Spike’

Managing Director Chris Woodroofe, addressing in a video statement on Facebook on Sunday, explained, “There was a significant power surge in our electrical systems due to an earlier failure this morning, damaging key equipment for our departure security and baggage systems.”

He further stated, “This has led to the inability of Terminals 1 and 2 to handle departures today, resulting in the lack of space to accommodate landed aircraft on the airfield.”

Jet2.com delivered a message to passengers, indicating, “Certain flights departed with limited or no luggage as baggage loading was impossible during the airport’s outage.”

“Our UK-based ground operations team is diligently working to deliver your baggage as soon as possible, though this task may take time. We aim to update you by the end of Monday,” the statement assured.

Jet2.com added, “We understand the frustration this situation may cause and assure you that we will make every effort to reunite all luggage with its owners expeditiously despite circumstances beyond our control.”

Some flights meant for Manchester had to divert to alternate airports.

Flights Diverted to London and Birmingham Airports

A flight destined from Houston to the United States had to divert to London Heathrow, while a flight from Singapore was redirected to London Gatwick.

An Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi Zayed was rerouted to Birmingham.

Manchester Airport later posted a notice on X stating, “All systems are back to normal today, urging passengers to travel as usual from Manchester Airport.”

“The airport is anticipated to be slightly busier than usual due to passengers affected by the previous day’s cancellations, but we have additional staff and resilience teams in place to assist,” the statement added.

Originally known as Ringway, Manchester Airport was established in the 1930s and features two runways and three terminals, with the oldest terminal constructed in 1962 but substantially renovated in 2009.

The ongoing refurbishment of Terminal 2, with an investment of £1.3 billion, is slated for completion next year.

In the past year, Manchester Airport served 54 million passengers and is partly owned by Manchester City Council (35.5 percent), IFM Global Infrastructure Fund (35.5 percent), and nine other councils in the Greater Manchester region.

PA Media contributed to this report.