A power failure at Stansted on Sunday afternoon left thousands of passengers delayed as congestion built up at the airport.
Multiple lengthy flight delays were reported with shuttles to and from aircraft gates disrupted, with a warning of knock-on effects into this morning.
The Essex airport’s railway station was reported to have initially been evacuated after its fire alarms were triggered.
Passengers attempting to travel to Stansted by rail faced trains being cancelled, with rail replacement buses laid on.
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The airport said on Sunday: “Earlier today we experienced a brief power outage in our terminal and trying station.
“Power has been restored and we are working hard to get all systems up and running as quickly as possible, but we are experiencing some ongoing disruption and apologised to all those affected.”
Passengers were advised to check the status of their flights with airlines and those due to travel to and from the airport by rail should also check whether their service is operating before they travel,
“As we recover all operations, safety is our top priority and we thank passengers for their understanding,” a statement added.
In an update issued at 11pm last night, Stansted said: “Following an outage on the afternoon of Sunday 20th August, we have successfully restored power to our terminal and rail station and our teams continue to work hard to reinstate normal services, aiming to minimise any inconvenience to passengers.
“We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.
“Passengers are advised there may be some further disruption to flights into the morning and should check the status of their flight with their airline.
“Anyone due to fly should arrive at the earliest time specified by their airline, as there could be some delays to the security process as a result of yesterday’s outage.”
An airport spokesperson insisted that all flights did operate on Sunday but with delays due to the power outage.
A restriction on arrivals was put in place for a period of time to help manage congestion in the terminal for arriving passengers.
“The airport is busy, as expected at this time of year, but operating as normal this morning.”
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