Lisbon airport faces major disruption as Iberian power outage grounds flights and halts operations

Lisbon Airport (LIS) has been one of the hardest-hit transport hubs following a widespread power outage that swept across large parts of Spain and Portugal on Monday, causing severe disruption.

Details on Lisbon Airport’s power outage disruption

The outage, which began shortly after midday, led to the grounding of at least 96 departing flights across Portugal, with LIS accounting for nearly 30% of all flight cancellations. Airport authorities were forced to limit arrivals and temporarily halt operations due to safety and logistical concerns.

Passengers at LIS reported chaotic scenes as flight information screens went blank, shops and restaurants closed, and communications networks faltered. At one point, travellers were reportedly asked to leave the terminal and contact their airlines remotely, further adding to the confusion.

Aviation data firm Cirium confirmed that LIS saw the highest percentage of flight disruptions in Portugal, with dozens of inbound and outbound services affected. Several flights, including arrivals from Luxembourg, Amsterdam, and Cape Verde, were diverted to other Portuguese airports such as Porto and Faro.

Portugal’s national carrier TAP urged passengers not to travel to the airport until further notice, citing the widespread disruption caused by the outage. Meanwhile, Spain’s and Portugal’s respective grid operators have been working to restore full power, though authorities warned that recovery could take up to ten hours.

As of late Monday night, power has been restored to most of the country’s substations, but the situation at LIS remains precarious, with passengers urged to check with their airlines before travelling.

Data from Cirium Aviation Analytics for cancellations

Flight cancellations on 28 April:

Portugal:

• 185 departing flights cancelled
• 187 arriving flights cancelled

Worst-affected airports:

• Lisbon – 44.78% of departures cancelled
• Porto – 16.03% of departures cancelled
• 25 UK to Portugal flights cancelled (one-way)

It is currently not known what has caused the power outage, however, a cyber-attack has been ruled out by the Spanish company Red Eléctrica, which operates the nation’s power grid. 

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