Airline disruptions lead to flight cancellations and prolonged wait times at various airports.
At Lisbon's Humberto Delgado airport, a hectic scene unfolded on Monday, April 28, 2025, as a widespread power outage hit the Iberian Peninsula and parts of French territory, causing chaos in flight schedules. The messy situation at the airport spilled over to other airports in the region, leaving many travelers stranded.
Furthermore, the outage put a damper on flights bound for the UK, with several connections getting scrapped, including the 06:40 flight to London, 06:45 to Frankfurt, 07:05 to Warsaw, 07:15 to Brussels and Milan, and 07:55 to Berlin, among others. Many scheduled departures faced hours-long delays.
Upon arrival, travelers experienced delays of up to four hours, while flights from various airlines due to land in the morning were called off. Porto airport, though less affected, had its share of troubles, with the 09:20 Brussels-bound flight and the 12:35 Newark flight cancelled for the day.
The aviation regulator, ANAC, allowed night flights to help companies recover from delays caused by the outage. However, the ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal website continued to warn that operational constraints might occur due to the power failure. Efforts to get an update from ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal via Lusa news agency proved futile as no response was received.
Investigators from the European Network of Transmission System Managers for Electricity (ENTSO-E) are still working to identify the cause of the blackout, which did not appear to be linked to renewable energy sources. This event highlighted weaknesses in travel infrastructure and raised concerns about the reliability of air travel in popular European destinations, potentially influencing future travel decisions and practices.
The power outage affected flights to the UK, causing cancellations of multiple connections like the 06:40 flight to London and the 07:55 to Berlin. Porto airport experienced troubles too, with flights to Brussels and Newark getting cancelled. The blackout has raised concerns about the reliability of air travel in popular European destinations, potentially influencing future lifestyle decisions and travel practices. Despite efforts to get an update from ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal, no response was received, adding to the uncertainty at Lisbon's airport.
