Bolton holidaymakers are among those desperately trying to secure alternative airline seats after Manchester Airport cancelled all flights this afternoon.

The Bolton News reported this morning that chaotic scenes were being experienced at the airport after a “major power cut” but even with the power restored flights leaving from terminals 1 and 2 are being cancelled until further notice and passengers due to travel from those terminals are advised not to come to the airport and to stay in touch with their airlines.”

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One holidaymaker from Bolton was due to fly out to Ibiza this evening, finding out just an hour ago that he should not travel to the airport, as his flight was leaving from Terminal 2.

He told The Bolton News: "It's all been extremely stressful and not surprisingly we can't get through to the airline because they must be very busy.

 

"At least we hadn't already got the airport unlike some poor people with families."

which caused huge queues and disruption to baggage processing.

In a social media post on Sunday, the airport said no flights would be departing from terminals one and two “until further notice” following the outage, which hit systems in the early hours of the morning.

 

It advised passengers due to travel from those terminals not to go to the airport and to contact their airlines for up-to-date information. 

Those due to fly from terminal three were told to go to the airport as normal, unless advised otherwise by their airline, after some earlier departures were delayed.

There have been instances where some people’s baggage was not on flights.

Airline easyJet, which operates flights from terminal one, said there were “very long queues” for security and disruption to hold baggage processing, meaning passengers could board flights only with cabin luggage.

 

It said: “Although outside of our control, we would like to apologise for any inconvenience experienced as a result.

“We are doing all we can and working closely with the airport team to minimise the disruption.”

Meanwhile, a number of arriving flights were being diverted to other airports.

One Singapore Airlines flight arriving from Houston in Texas had to go to London Heathrow while another, which came in from Singapore, was forced to land at London Gatwick.

An Etihad Airways flight from Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport was diverted to Birmingham Airport.

Among those caught up in the disruption was Samuel Martin, 27, a student at the University of Sheffield, and his friend Matthew O’Brien, 27, an operations manager, whose flight to Manchester Airport from New Zealand via Singapore was diverted to Heathrow.

Mr Martin, of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, said: “We had someone driving to come and pick us up from Manchester Airport who had to turn around and go home.”

The airport said: “We apologise for any inconvenience and aim to restore normal service as soon as possible.”

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “Following a site-wide power outage at Manchester Airport, baggage systems are currently not operational.

“Our teams are working closely with the airport authorities and are keeping our customers up to date with the latest information.

“Virgin Atlantic flights are currently departing but may be subject to minor delays.”