Manchester Airport has reassured passengers that flights are set to “run as usual” on Monday following the severe disruption caused by a significant power outage over the weekend.
The electrical fault, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday, resulted in the cancellation of 66 outbound flights (25% of all departures) and 50 inbound flights (18% of all arrivals) by midday, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.
The airport had previously announced that no flights were able to leave from terminals one and two, leading to extensive queues and baggage handling issues throughout Sunday. However, in a social media update on Sunday evening, Manchester Airport confirmed that it does not expect any “further disruption” on Monday.
In their statement, the airport expressed regret for the inconvenience caused: “We would like to apologise to all those affected by the disruption in Terminals 1 and 2 today. Tomorrow’s schedule is expected to run as usual with no further disruption so passengers should plan to travel to the airport as normal, checking in two hours ahead of their flight for short-haul, and three hours for long-haul.”
They also advised travellers to always check their flight status before heading to the airport, reports the Daily Star.
The statement further read: “Airlines will be in touch with passengers to rearrange cancelled flights as we work with airlines, their baggage handling agents and other partners to make sure passengers whose bags did not make it onto their flights are reunited with their belongings as soon as possible. We thank passengers for their patience today and we would also like to thank all of our staff, airlines and onsite partners for their hard work and resilience.”
Earlier on Sunday, Chris Woodroofe, the managing director, informed BBC News that a “fault with a cable had caused a power surge that took down security systems and baggage screening”.
Mr Woodroofe stated: “When Terminal 1 and 2 can’t depart passengers for an entire morning there is going to be an impact. And I’m really sorry that happened and we’re now making sure as we look forward, that impact doesn’t carry on into tomorrow.”
He mentioned that an investigation into the incident is due to take place. The disruption also resulted in several arriving flights being redirected to other airports.
One Singapore Airlines flight coming from Houston in Texas was rerouted to London Heathrow while another, arriving from Singapore, was compelled to land at London Gatwick. An Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport was diverted to Birmingham Airport.
Samuel Martin, 27, a University of Sheffield student, and his mate Matthew O’Brien, 27, an operations manager, found themselves in the thick of the turmoil when their flight from New Zealand to Manchester Airport via Singapore was rerouted to Heathrow.
Hailing from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Mr Martin shared: “We had someone driving to come and pick us up from Manchester Airport who had to turn around and go home.” The airport announced just after 3pm that it was beginning to get back to business as usual.
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