The airport saw mass disruption on Sunday, with flights being cancelled and delayed. 

Bolton passengers told how their plans were scuppered, from losing a day of their holidays to entire trips being cancelled altogether. 

Airport bosses apologised for the delays, before announcing on Monday that all systems were "working as normal". 

Rebecca Holden and her group could not go on their holiday due to the delays (Image: Public)

Rebecca Holden, aged 43, was due to fly to Malaga with her sister, sister-in-law and two friends. 

The Westhoughton resident said: "We got to the airport for our flight at 9.40am, it was cancelled on the way but they still said to come because there was an afternoon link flight to Paris we could have got. 

"I have never seen anything like it, you couldn't walk as people's luggage was everywhere." 

The flight was continually delayed, until it was cancelled 20 minutes before it was due to leave.

Rebecca added: "There was no point in rescheduling for the next day as it was only a three day trip. We decided to go home but could not get out. 

Crowds at the airport (Image: Public)

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"There were no representatives, no staff. It took three hours to get somebody to take us through passport control. It was horrendous. 

"They should have told people not to come." 

Rebecca and her group were at Manchester Airport from 7am to 5pm. 

It was not just holidays which were disrupted.

Chelsea Swift, who is originally from Horwich but now lives in Chorley, was due to fly to Cyprus on Sunday with her husband, Joe, and their young daughter for their honeymoon. 

She said: "It was delayed by 28 hours. We waited in the airport for nine hours on Sunday and were told we were boarding in 10 minutes at 8pm.

"We were then told at 8.30pm that the flight was cancelled and to come back tomorrow, but they didn’t know what time. 

"They weren’t going to pay for any hotels or compensation, as it wasn’t their fault, until everyone kicked off. They then advised us to book our own hotel and they would look to refund it." 

Chelsea and Joe were told they would fly at 5.30pm on Monday, but ended up on a 9.30pm flight. 

Manchester Airport (Image: Manchester Airport)

The family made it to Cyprus, but have lost two of the 15 days they were meant to be away for. 

She added: "It wasn't brilliant, we've got our little girl with us. Spending that many hours in an airport with a toddler is hard work, and we had no communication." 

Mandy Burtonwood from Bolton was flying back into Manchester from her holiday when the plane was diverted to Birmingham. 

She said: "We were then left on the plane for two hours. We were then told coaches would arrive to return us back to Manchester Airport.

"We waited nearly another two hours but still no coach, so we decided to get a taxi which cost £240 to take us back to Bolton. It's shocking how things were dealt in this situation." 

On Monday, a statement from the airport said it had been "operating smoothly, with all systems operating as normal and no ongoing issues" following the outage. 

It added that the airport would be "slightly busier than usual".