Manchester Airport hit by power cut, flights disrupted

A significant number of flights at Manchester Airport, the UK's third-busiest, were delayed or cancelled on Sunday due to a major power cut, according to the airport operator.

The Manchester Airports Group, which also operates London Stansted and East Midlands airports, reported that Manchester Airport had been "affected by a major power cut in the area earlier this morning."

"This has caused widespread disruption," the group stated on social media.

Although power has now been restored, passengers scheduled to travel from Terminals One and Two were advised to "not come to the airport until further notice" as flights were being cancelled.

Passengers for Terminal Three were advised to come to the airport as normal but were warned they "could be affected by delays."

Some flyers took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to describe the situation. One passenger mentioned "baggage thrown on any carousel," while another reported being "stuck on the plane."

Airline easyJet, which operates flights from Terminal One, warned of "very long queues" for security and disruption to check-in luggage, meaning passengers could only board flights with cabin bags.

The UK's travel industry has faced several disruptions in recent years, including technical problems and industrial action affecting rail and air passengers.

Last month, a nationwide outage of immigration e-gates caused long delays for thousands of passengers.

In August last year, the country experienced its worst air traffic control disruption in almost ten years due to a technical fault.

(AFP)