Holidaymakers at Stansted Airport were stranded on trains and planes after a power failure affected the entire airport site.
Flights were grounded, fire alarms rang out and the electrical fault led to dozens being stuck on the fully automated shuttle system between terminals for “almost an hour”.
A group of passengers, including young children, became stranded on the staffless transport hitting out at the loss of emergency phone lines as they became desperate for information.
No, a few airport staff occasionally waved at us telling us to get back in the hot, overpacked train. But there were no announcements.
— Johnny Shipley (@johnnyshipley) August 20, 2023
Johnny Shipley, one of the holidaymakers making his way home on the tram, said: “The whole experience was a blend of incredibly frustrating, stressful and disconcerting.
“The shuttle train just suddenly stopped and then we were stuck inside a packed train carriage with no communication for 45 minutes.
“What was really scary is that the ‘emergency phone’ in the driverless shuttle didn’t do anything.
“We tried all the buttons repeatedly but no one picked up. Imagine if someone had fallen ill and we had a proper emergency.”
He added: “A few airport staff occasionally waved at us telling us to get back in the hot, overpacked train. But there were no announcements.”
Father-of-two Zini Dishi, 46, was heading to Albania with his family when he said the lights went out and the transport came to a standstill.
He told the Standard: “People were running everywhere. There was no staff to direct them.
“You would think a big airport like Stansted would have Plan B for these situations”, he said.
Absolute chaos for hundreds at Bishop’s Stortford station as apparent power disruption caused cancellation of trains to Stansted Airport. Some amazingly good tempered & patient visitors trying to get home that I spoke with. More buses needed if poss &very few taxis available pic.twitter.com/Rs9prQVAxA
— Nick de Bois CBE (@nickdebois) August 20, 2023
The outage also affected nearby Bishop’s Stortford station with replacement hire cars reportedly giving quotes of hundreds of pounds for tourists to continue their journey to central London.
the Stansted experience was super fun pic.twitter.com/eCuT86WTuE
— tori (@makethefiregrow) August 20, 2023
Greater Anglia said it was trying to find replacement buses to assist with onward journeys.
It later said on its website that emergency services were currently at the railway station.
“No fire has been found at the station, but a burnt switch in an electrical room has been found,” it said.
Power cut at Stansted airport. The queue for Ryan Air check in is enormous, and growing. pic.twitter.com/wcRvjunCyO
— Lord of the Pies (@jamesclossick) August 20, 2023
An airport statement advised would-be passengers to check with their airline if their flight was still going ahead.
They said: “Earlier today, we experienced a brief power outage in our terminal and train station. Power has been restored, and we are working hard to get all systems up and running as quickly as possible, but we are experiencing some ongoing disruption and apologise to all those affected.
“Passengers are advised to check the status of their flights with their airlines.
“Those due to travel by train to or from the airport should also check whether their service is operating before they travel. As we recover all operations, safety is our top priority and we thank passengers for their understanding. We will provide further updates in due course.”
