Stansted Airport hit by widespread power outage as IT glitch causes travel chaos

11 May 2025, 09:10 | Updated: 11 May 2025, 10:39

Passengers travelling to and from Stansted Airport are facing travel chaos following a power outage triggered by an IT meltdown.

The IT glitch has caused widespread disruption at the Essex airport, with long delays expected and further disruption to flights.

Stansted airport said "issues" were reported at the airport early on Sunday morning.

Check in, baggage and security areas are all believed to have been affected by the technical issue.

Taking to social media, stranded travellers showed the extent of the chaos, with thousands of travellers packed into the airport terminal after systems ground to a halt.

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The airport's official account shared a message on X saying: "Our teams are working hard to fully restore operations following the IT issue that impacted our systems earlier this morning.

"While the issue has been resolved, some flights may still be subject to delays.

"We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause and advise passengers to check the status of their flights with their airlines before travelling to the airport.

A spokesman from Stansted Airport has since said that they are "not sure at this stage of the root cause, but that is being investigated".

The spokesman also said the failure "appears to have been an issue with internet access".

Taking to X, one traveller named Anne Alexander spoke of the situation: "Stansted Airport right now. IT system issue, the airport says.

"Some people are queuing outside just to get inside the airport terminal. Some have given up and gone home as they have missed their flights.

"These pics are taken from the queue towards departures and security."

Holidaymakers Anne Alexander and Yusuf Yusuf Mryuu have also shared videos of themselves in the massive queue, saying some people simply "gave up and went home."

The delays come just as we head into peak holiday season, and disgruntled holidaymakers may want nothing more than to kick back on a beach after a stressful work period.

Stansted experienced a similar delay in peak season last year on July 19, as a result of the global Microsoft IT outage.

Similarly, queues snaked out the door as the worldwide Crowdstrike outage rendered their digital check-in and payment services unusable for several hours.

This is a developing story...