A sudden electrical failure at Barcelona-El Prat halted all takeoffs and landings for two hours. Dozens of flights were delayed, several were cancelled, and ten had to be diverted. The disruption hit during peak summer travel.
Barcelona-El Prat airport experienced a significant operational breakdown on Wednesday afternoon after an electrical failure in the control tower forced a complete halt to both arrivals and departures. The disruption, which lasted at least two hours, led to widespread delays and cancellations, affecting passengers and airlines during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
According to AENA, the incident was caused by a problem with the power supply to the control tower. As a result, dozens of flights scheduled to depart from or arrive in Barcelona were delayed, and at least four flights planned for the afternoon were cancelled. The airport operator advised travelers to check with their airlines for updated flight information while the issue was being resolved.
During the outage, ten flights out of the 1,124 scheduled for the day had to be diverted to other airports. By 16:00, AENA reported that departures were fully operational again, and arrivals were expected to resume shortly. The company confirmed that the power supply to the control tower had been completely restored and that normal operations were gradually returning.
The timing of the incident added to the impact, as it occurred in August, traditionally one of the months with the highest passenger volumes in Spain. Some travelers expressed frustration on social media after being kept on board planes for hours, with delays in some cases exceeding two hours. The situation created significant inconvenience for both domestic and international passengers, many of whom were traveling at the height of the summer season.
Recent data from AENA highlights the scale of air traffic in Spain: in July alone, airports across the country handled 34.4 million passengers, a 5% increase compared to the previous year. Barcelona-El Prat saw a 6% rise, reaching 5.87 million travelers last month. The incident underscores the vulnerability of critical infrastructure during periods of intense demand and the cascading effects a technical failure can have on air travel. While the immediate crisis was resolved within hours, residual delays and disruptions were expected to affect flights throughout the afternoon and evening.
