Manchester Airport: IT failure causes check-in delays Published duration 22 June 2019

image copyright Roger Heredia Jornet image caption Long queues built up at Manchester Airport when an IT failure hit check-in desks

Passengers have been facing delays at Manchester Airport after an IT failure prevented many from checking-in at all three terminals.

Some travellers said they had been waiting to check-in for more than three hours, with long queues building up.

An airport spokesman said the IT issue had been resolved in the afternoon, adding: "We apologise to our passengers for the inconvenience."

The issue first arose at 11:30 BST on Saturday.

Backlog of passengers

The airport said there were no longer any queues at check-in but there were knock-on delays to some flights.

Some airlines tried to check people in manually during the IT failure and have been working through a backlog of passengers after the issue was resolved.

Jordan Elliott was one of many to complain to the airport on social media.

He tweeted a picture of the queues and said: "@manairport in total lockdown. No-one checking in due to computer failure!"

'Utter carnage'

Michael Ripley was on his way to Fuerteventura with his family for his wedding anniversary when they got caught up in the delays.

"It's utter carnage... All the IT systems were down at check in. No-one could help us," he said.

"A process to check-in that would normally take five or 10 minutes took two hours."

image copyright Aimée de Hamel image caption Aimée de Hamel and friend Megan waiting to take off after delays at Manchester Airport

Aimée de Hamel, 19, from East Yorkshire, was waiting on a stationary plane where as many as 40 passengers had not yet been able to board due to the system failure.

She said many people had to find out what was happening by looking on Twitter and described the experience as "atrocious".

"Everyone was so angry, confused and tired of waiting around with no answers," she added.