It's like a third world country': Passengers furious at Manchester Airport 'shambles'

Holiday-makers voiced their frustrations after a major power cut caused chaos at the Manchester Airport. Passengers were turned away and massive queues formed after flights out of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 were cancelled for a period of time on Sunday (June 23).

The airport was left at a standstill as exasperated passengers were stuck in winding queues at check-in desks that had stopped working due to the outage. Outside, at the entrance of both terminals, unlucky flyers could be seen despondently sat in the sun awaiting their taxi back home, just hours after arriving at the airport, excited for a getaway.

Married couple, Liz and Ian Ainley were one of those. The pair were supposed to be on a flight to Lisbon for a three week trip to a home they own in the Portuguese city.

Instead, they were waiting for transport back home after their airline advised them that the 10.50am flight they were set to board would not be running due to the technical difficulties. The advice given to Liz, Ian and many others was to return home and liaise with their airline about the next available flight to their holiday destination.

Speaking to the MEN, an angry Liz described the situation as a "shambles". "We knew there was going to be delays when we got to the airport and saw around 2,000 people outside calling taxis." She told the MEN.

"We thought we would still be able to get on our plane and we got through to security. The plane was leaving Lisbon to come to Manchester, they first said it was delayed and then they said it's been cancelled.

"We're trying to sort out another flight tomorrow now, and I've been on the phone for 30 minutes and getting through to no-one. It's alright for us because we have a house there, but what about other