Stansted Airport IT failure sparks journey chaos – with 10,000 passengers lacking flights and hours of delays | EUROtoday

An IT crash at a significant airport sparked mass delays with an estimated 10,000 holidaymakers lacking their flights on account of lengthy queues for luggage and safety.

Stansted airport was affected by an “IT issue” early on Sunday morning that rendered most of the programs ineffective. Most of the safety lanes had been out of motion, and baggage programs weren’t working. While the trigger continues to be being investigated, it’s believed it may very well be associated to web entry for some programs.

Jet2 and Tui had been delaying flights by three to 4 hours to attend for passengers to clear safety, however Ryanair has been dispatching planes on time with a purpose to keep away from delays later within the day.

Ben Silverstone, 37, arrived at Stansted together with his associate at 5am for a 6.45am Ryanair flight to Madrid. He instructed The Independent: “There was a massive queue to get into the airport terminal, which didn’t move for about an hour.”

They had been unable to drop off their baggage and ultimately left the airport, rebooking for a later flight from Gatwick on simpleJet.

“It’s cost us a fortune,” Mr Silverstone stated. “We’re about £600 out of pocket”.

Stansted airport posted on X (previously Twitter) early within the morning: “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”

Just a few hours later, A spokesperson for London Stansted stated: “All systems have now been fully restored and no flights have been cancelled as a result of the IT issue”.

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Mark Wright, 34, stated holidaymakers had been pushing and shoving to get an opportunity to board his 5.55am Jet2 flight to Majorca.

He instructed The Independent from the tarmac: “We arrived at the airport at 3am into absolute chaos. We were barely able to get through the main door.

“There were no organised queues, there was only one barrier with three airport staff shouting out flights and only letting certain people through.

“I had to push through to the front to find out if our flight was called then work my way back through the crowds to find my partner with the bags and push back through just to get to the Jet2 bag drop off.

“There were people sleeping on the floor or just sat in the middle of the crowds making it nearly impossible.

“At the bag drop off the only reason we got through is because we noticed the self-check in came back online and we jumped out to use them. The Jet 2 team asked us to keep it quiet that they’d all came back on.”

Mr Wright managed to board his flight however has been caught on the tarmac for over two hours after being instructed his household’s baggage may not be onboard.

He added: “The only positive is the pilot has kept us informed and has found creative ways to keep the children entertained by showing them the cockpit.

Bravo to him, he seems to be the one doing something proactive.”

Anne Alexander, posted on X that she queued for safety for practically two hours however nonetheless missed her flight.

She stated: “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.

“Many passengers in the queue – including me – have flights leaving in the next 15 mins.

“And we are still in the security queue.”