IT meltdown at London Stansted Airport strands 10,000 travelers in chaos

A major IT outage at London Stansted Airport triggered travel chaos on May 11 morning, leaving around 10,000 passengers stranded as long queues and system failures disrupted flight schedules.

The breakdown, which occurred around 2:30 a.m. (GMT+1), crippled several airport systems just hours before the first wave of flights was due to depart, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

By 6 a.m., terminal entrances were already overwhelmed with passengers facing hours-long delays at baggage drop-off and security checkpoints. While Jet2 and TUI opted to delay flights by up to four hours to allow passengers extra time to board, Ryanair maintained its schedule to avoid knock-on disruptions later in the day.

Ben Silverstone, 37, arrived at 5 a.m. for a 6:45 a.m. Ryanair flight to Madrid but was unable to get through the terminal. “There was a massive queue to get into the airport terminal, which didn't move for about an hour,” he said. Eventually, he and his partner abandoned their plans and rebooked from Gatwick. “It’s cost us a fortune. We’re about £600 out of pocket,” he added. 

Mark Wright, 34, described “absolute chaos” as passengers jostled to get on his 5:55 a.m. Jet2 flight to Majorca. He said the terminal lacked organized queues, with only a few staff shouting flight information. Though he boarded, Wright waited on the tarmac for over two hours while the crew tried to confirm whether luggage had made it on board. “Bravo to [the pilot], he seems to be the one doing something proactive,” Wright said. 

Anne Alexander, another passenger, posted on X that she missed her flight after queuing for nearly two hours. “Some people are queuing outside just to get inside the terminal,” she wrote. By 10:30 a.m., Stansted Airport declared the issue “fully resolved” and apologized for the disruption, advising travelers to check with their airlines for updates.

By Naila Huseynova