Hundreds of people ‘being shoehorned into corridors’ at Terminal 3 passport control and some flights are affected

21:09, 09 May 2025Updated 23:02, 09 May 2025

Manchester Airport(Image: MEN MEDIA)

Manchester Airport has been hit by a power failure in Terminal 3 tonight. Lights went off inside the building and computer terminals at immigration control shut down.

It has led to hundreds of queuing passengers ‘being shoehorned into corridors’ as officials struggle to process their entry into the UK.

Tonight a spokesman for Manchester Airport confirmed there had been an incident ‘affecting power supply’ in one part of T3. Initially it was reported flights were not affected however it has since emerged that some are.

He said lights had initially gone out but had returned thanks to back-up generators, albeit the lighting was dimmer than normal. He confirmed the power issue meant computer terminals at immigration control had gone down.

One passenger in the queue told the Manchester Evening News there had been a ‘power cut’ and that ‘hundreds (are) shoehorned into corridors before passport control’.

They went on that ‘nothing (is) moving’.

Tonight Manchester Airport issued an update from its X account, stating: “We’re aware of a technical issue affecting some systems in Terminal 3 this evening. Flights are not affected. We are working to fix this issue as soon as possible and apologise for any inconvenience. Our customer service and resilience teams are on hand to assist passengers.”

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