Power outage causes 'chaotic scenes' at Manchester Airport as passengers miss flights

Passengers have described "chaotic" scenes at Manchester Airport as 'flights took off without them' after a power outage caused disruption.A power cut hit Terminal 3 just before 8am on Wednesday, 24 May, causing issues with checking-in and boarding.

Some passengers say they were left 'stranded' and stuck in long queues, with others missing their flights due to delays.

One passenger said she arrived at the airport at 7am for her 10am Ryanair flight to Tenerife, but missed it as she was struck trying to check in her luggage.Megan tweeted: "[I was] supposed to fly to Tenerife at 10am. Got here at 7am and waited for desk to open."Power cut at airport so stuck trying to check luggage in. Plane has gone. What are we supposed to do? Nobody has come to advise us. It’s my birthday today!"Other passengers also tweeted about the disruption. Tom McKenna said the airport was "absolute chaos", adding a Ryanair flight fly over his head as he was queuing."Utter disgrace… should be ashamed of themselves," he added.

Laura Marie tweeted: "Stood at T3 bag check in since 7:30am, hundreds of people stranded, no-one in charge letting us know what is going on, flight has already left Ryanair."She then added: "Ryanair have told us no more flights today and we have to come back tomorrow.

"We have had to book new flights and a hotel which comes at additional expense we should not have to pay.

"I fully appreciate this is not anyone's fault but some communication would help."Kate Vaudrey said: "Absolute shambles this morning. None of the ground staff were prioritising check-in based on flight times."Only two members of staff available for baggage drop off. 80 passengers missed our Ryanair flight this morning."

A spokesperson from Manchester Airport said some passengers may be facing longer waiting times but that staff were doing everything they could to ease disruption.

The airport apologised for inconvenience caused by the power outage, which was due to a fault at an external substation and has since been resolved.The latest update posted on the official Manchester Airport Twitter account said: "The power outage that affected Terminal 3 shortly before 8am has been resolved and we are working to return services to normal.

"We are aware this means some passengers are facing long waiting times than usual as our airlines recover their check-in processes and we apologise or any inconvenience."Passengers are advised to check with their airline for the most up-to-date flight information."

Ryanair said the issue 'was entirely beyond' the airline's control as they also apologised for disruption.

In a statement, a Ryanair spokesperson said: "Due to a power outage at Manchester Airport, which was entirely beyond Ryanair’s control, some passengers missed their flights from Manchester Airport this morning (24 May)."Where possible, we have reaccommodated affected passengers on alternative Ryanair flights departing later today and where alternative flights are not available today, we advise passengers to contact our Customer Service Team.

"We sincerely apologise to affected passengers for any inconvenience caused as a result of this power outage at Manchester Airport, which was entirely beyond Ryanair’s control."

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