Thousands of passengers experienced major travel disruption at Manchester Airport on Monday, December 15, after emergency runway repairs coincided with heavy rainfall and poor visibility, prompting a weather warning from the UK Met Office.
The disruption began when one of the airport’s two runways was closed after a surface failure on a connecting taxiway, prompting airport authorities to reduce flight movements. Manchester Airport, the UK’s third-busiest aviation hub, quickly descended into operational chaos as adverse weather conditions slowed repair work and restricted air traffic control operations.
Engineers worked throughout the day to fix the damaged surface. However, torrential rain across Greater Manchester significantly reduced visibility, prompting air traffic controllers to impose limits on inbound flights for safety.
Runway 05L/23R at Manchester Airport (MAN) is closed due to a surface failure. With the airport operating only one runway, passengers can expect significant delays. Currently, the average departure delay is around 60 minutes.
View traffic here: https://t.co/xfLYNOOH4U pic.twitter.com/nVI7BMJghL
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 15, 2025By midday, passengers faced average delays of about 70 minutes, with many flights postponed for several hours. Airport officials also confirmed multiple cancellations. A Ryanair flight bound for Berlin was delayed by more than five hours, while an easyJet service to Paris scheduled for early afternoon was cancelled altogether. Another Ryanair flight to Gdansk was delayed by nearly six hours. Several long-haul and European services operated by British Airways, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and Finnair were also affected.
Flight-tracking platform Flightradar confirmed that Runway 05L/23R remained closed due to the surface fault, reinforcing the scale of the disruption.
Flight delays due to heavy rain and runway closure https://t.co/2SpqXksTVH
— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) December 15, 2025The timing of the incident has raised fresh concerns, as the airport prepares for its busiest Christmas travel period. Manchester Airport expects more than 1.5 million passengers to pass through its terminals between December 19 and January 4, placing additional strain on infrastructure and operations.
Airport authorities have advised travellers to check with their airlines before travelling and to allow extra time, as knock-on delays may persist. At the same time, repair work and weather conditions remain under close watch.
