Hundreds of flights delayed as power surge disrupts Stansted
Airport systems were restored on Sunday evening after security and baggage operations failed.
A power surge at London Stansted Airport delayed about 250 flights and cancelled six on Sunday. The airport said its systems were operational again by the evening after security and baggage services were disrupted.
Passengers faced long queues after the surge affected systems used for security screening and baggage handling. The disruption came during a weekend already affected by Storm Boelo and wider transport problems in parts of Britain.
Stansted said the surge affected both the airport and the surrounding area. Its operational teams worked to restore services and the airport apologised to passengers for the disruption.
The figure of about 250 delayed flights comes from flight-tracking data cited by Sky News. It is not an airport count of every passenger affected, and delays may include flights that were already affected by weather or other operational constraints.
The airport’s statement said that all systems had returned to service by Sunday evening. That does not necessarily mean every passenger reached their destination on schedule, because aircraft, crews and baggage may have been displaced by the interruption.
Passengers travelling through Stansted on Monday should check directly with their airline before leaving for the airport. The airport’s statement confirmed that systems were operational again; it did not establish the cause of the surge.
Stansted is one of the UK’s busiest airports and a major base for short-haul services. Even a temporary failure in airport infrastructure can spread quickly through airline schedules, ground transport and connecting journeys.
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The reported disruption and restoration are supported by the airport statement quoted by Sky News. The flight totals are clearly attributed to tracking data rather than presented as a precise airport statistic.
- confirmed A power surge disrupted Stansted Airport on 25 October 2026. — Reported by Sky News and attributed to Stansted. source
- confirmed About 250 flights were delayed and six cancelled. — Sky News cited Flightradar24 data. source
- confirmed All airport systems were operational again by the evening. — Stansted statement quoted by Sky News. source
Editor's note
The disruption, approximate delay total and restoration of systems are reported by Sky News. No independent technical investigation was available in the search.Sources
More on this in other media
- Channel 4 News — „stansted airport”
- BBC News — „stansted airport”
- The Guardian — „stansted airport”