Flight Delays After Manchester Power Surge

Passengers arriving at the UK's Manchester Airport experienced flight delays on the morning of 6 August 2012.

A power surge took place at approximately 0700hrs that morning and caused a loss of power in Terminals 1, 2 and 3. As this article was being prepared, airport officials were confident that the systems would be up and running again by late morning.

August typically sees Manchester Airport handle more passenger traffic than during any other month of the year, with about 80,000 passing through each day.

Manchester Power Surge

Behind London Heathrow and Gatwick, the airport's actually the third-busiest in the UK, so the Manchester power surge had the potential to cause significant disruption and/or congestion.

Aircraft have been taking off and landing at this site since 1938 and it holds the accolade of being one of just two UK airports with a pair of 3,000+ metre long runways.

The largest Manchester Airport terminal is Terminal 1, which became 50 years old in 2012. Initially capable of handling 2.5 million passengers a year, it now handles well over four times that number. Terminal 2 is the newest Manchester Airport terminal, having been put into operation in 1993, while Terminal 3 opened in 1989.

At the end of July 2012, Manchester Airport hit the headlines when an 11-year-old boy managed to sneak onto a flight to Italy without having his passport checked.

Manchester Flight Delays

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News publication, an airport representative discussed the power surge and the knock-on Manchester flight delays.

"We had a power surge at about 7am", he said. "The lights flickered and it took out everything land side. That is pretty much everything apart from the runways and the air traffic control towers. The power was only out for a matter of seconds but it reset all of our systems. We had cars stuck behind barriers and delays at places like the baggage hall and security.

"Everything should be back to normal by 10am but flights up to 9am may face delays of about an hour."