Manchester Airport releases statement
A spokesperson said: "Manchester Airport was affected by a major power cut in the area earlier this morning.
"This has caused widespread disruption, particularly in Terminals 1 and 2.
"Passengers due to travel from Terminals 1 and 2 today are advised not to come to the airport until further notice and to contact their airlines.
"Passengers due to travel from Terminal 3 should come to the airport as normal unless advised otherwise but could be affected by delays.
"We are working to get passengers already at the airport onto their flights.
"The disruption caused by the outage means in some instances baggage may not be on those flights.
"We will work with the airlines to make sure passengers are reunited with any baggage that is not on their flight as soon as possible.
"A number of arriving flights are being diverted to other airports so anyone due to pick passengers up from the airport are advised to check before they travel.
"We apologise for any inconvenience and aim to restore normal service as soon as possible."
Passenger describes 'absolute chaos' at the airport
Ian Ellison, 42, told The Sun arriving at the airport early this morning was "absolute chaos" after their flight was stuck on the tarmac for two hours.
The Chester man had returned from a lovely 10 day holiday to Paphos, Cyprus, with his wife and five-year-old son.
Their plane arrived at terminal one at 2.50am, but passengers weren't allowed off the plane and became increasingly agitated with children on the flight "kicking off".
He said: "The captain on the plane said he's never experienced something like that."
After finally catching a bus to terminal two at around 5am, Ian said there was a smooth pass through immigration - only find chaos on the other side.
"It was like a minefield walking through terminal two.
"Bags were absolutely everywhere with nobody to tell us which belt was where... it was utter chaos."
Chaos at Manchester Airport after power cut
Passengers at Manchester Airport face travel chaos this morning with all flights cancelled after a power cut.
Huge queues of furious passengers were unable to check in and a sea of suitcases sit unclaimed with arriving travellers stuck on planes.
Travellers flying from Terminals 1 and 2 have been told to stay away from the airport until further notice.
Flyers told The Sun those terminals were like a "minefield" earlier as thousands of people were stuck inside with nowhere to go.
Hundreds of suitcases were also dumped at abandoned check-in areas as conveyorbelts and computers had stopped working.