Bournemouth Airport resumed normal operations on Sunday after a mains electricity failure disrupted flights and terminal services for several hours on Saturday.
The outage began at 15:10. Backup systems maintained terminal lighting and essential functions, including security, airfield equipment and air traffic control, allowing the airport to remain open.
According to the airport, no arrivals or departures from Bournemouth were cancelled during the outage, although several flights were delayed because of the power failure and weather-related disruption elsewhere. Shops, restaurants and other concession services were affected, and airport staff distributed bottled water to passengers.
A TUI flight from Bournemouth to Rhodes, originally scheduled for 14:35, departed around five hours late. The delay was also reportedly linked to the aircraft arriving late from Bristol.
The disruption subsequently affected the return service from Rhodes, scheduled to leave at 21:40. Passengers said the departure was repeatedly postponed before they were instructed to leave the airport early on Sunday. Some were reportedly rebooked on a flight to London Gatwick, but that service also failed to depart, leaving around 200 passengers stranded.
The return-flight cancellation occurred in Rhodes and was therefore separate from Bournemouth Airport’s statement that no flights were cancelled at Bournemouth during the power failure. TUI had not yet publicly responded to the passengers’ accounts.
Power was restored on Saturday evening. The cause remains under investigation, although areas outside the airport were reportedly also affected.