A power failure at a major airport has led to huge queues of departing Christmas holidaymakers.
Flights were still able to take off and land at Stansted airport in Essex but passengers reported that queues for departure were stretching the length of the main terminal building.
One passenger tweeted that the mood was turning ugly, with police having to hold back the crowds.
The power failure, which started in mid-afternoon, affected a satellite building and the track transit which takes passengers to the satellite for boarding.
Stansted said neither the main terminal nor the runway were affected and passengers were being taken by bus to their flights.
On Christmas Eve last year, a power failure caused by flooding at Gatwick airport in West Sussex led to severe delays and a number of flight cancellations.
Frustrated passengers took to Twitter to complain. One tweet from Hail To The Street read: “Holiday craziness after power failure. Useless staff. No information. Appalling!!”
Another tweeter, named simply Annabelle, wrote: “No information and staff quite unhelpful.”
The power, which failed at around 3pm, was restored around two hours later. But a Stansted spokeswoman warned passengers to expect delays.
Stansted is a base for a number of major European low-cost carriers, being the largest base for low-cost airline Ryanair with over 100 destinations served by the airline.
In 2013 it was the fourth busiest airport in the United Kingdom after Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester. Stansted’s runway is also used by private companies such as the Harrods Aviation terminal which is opposite the main terminal building and handles private jets and some state visits.
It is also a major base for trips to destinations including Turkey and North Cyprus, to where there are daily flights.
