On Sunday, a power outage at Manchester Airport in the United Kingdom resulted in the grounding of at least 100 flights, leaving 90,000 passengers stranded.
In an update, the airport announced that check-in and departures at Terminals 1 and 2 had resumed, and officials do not anticipate further disruptions on Monday. However, it remains uncertain how long it will take to address the backlog of cancelled flights.
Aviation analytics company Cirium reported that, as of Sunday lunchtime, over 66 outbound and 50 inbound flights were affected.
Chris Woodroofe, the managing director of Manchester Airport, expressed regret for the disruption, attributing it to a malfunctioning cable that caused a “surge, which took down security systems and baggage screening.”
Woodroofe explained that the power outage primarily impacted two terminals and assured that Monday’s flights would proceed as scheduled.
“When Terminals 1 and 2 can’t depart passengers for an entire morning, there is going to be an impact,” said Woodroofe. “I’m really sorry that happened and we’re now making sure as we look forward, that impact doesn’t carry on into tomorrow.”
Despite these assurances, images on social media showed thousands of passengers looking disoriented in the crowded airport.
Several incoming flights were rerouted to alternative airports, including a flight from Houston, Texas, which was redirected to London’s Heathrow, and another from Singapore, which landed at Gatwick.
