An investigation is underway after Manchester Airport ran out of fuel for the first time in its history. Flight operations returned to normal yesterday following the incident.

A total of 13 flights were delayed – 12 for less than 30 minutes and one for two and a half hours, according to the airport.

17 departures from Manchester also made a short stop at other UK airports to top up fuel before completing the onward journey.  Although the majority of airlines travelling to Manchester carried enough additional fuel to complete both legs of the journey.

“Although we initially warned about the potential for some cancellations and diversions based on the information from the fuel companies yesterday afternoon, disruption to passengers has been kept to an absolute minimum thanks to the airlines and the Essar refinery,” said Chris Formby, Operations Director at Manchester Airport.

“On behalf of the thousands of passengers travelling today and last night, we would like to thank our airline partners for the huge effort they put into contingency planning to mitigate the highly unusual problem with the fuel supply.

“Although it was only a relatively small number of people affected, we are also grateful to those passengers who were delayed this morning for their patience and understanding.”

“With its operations now returned to normal, Manchester Airport, its airlines and the fuel companies will be working together to review the incident, learn lessons and mitigate any risk of disruption that might be caused by a similar incident in the future.”