Blackout shuts down Austin-Bergstrom International airport

Passengers experienced darkness for nearly three hours

Passengers were plunged into darkness at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport amid a power outage that sent at least one terminal building offline.

In an update on Wednesday morning, the airport said it had experienced a blackout in the main Barbara Jordan Terminal building just before 5am.

“Airport teams have been dispatched to investigate the cause of the outage,” the airport said. “If you are in the terminal, please follow instructions by AUS staff.”

Flights were cancelled temporarily from the airport located about five miles southeast of downtown Austin, Texas, before power was restored just before 8am.

Video and images shared on social media by those inside the terminal showed departure lounges thrown into darkness and only the area around the security gate partially lit.

“Power has been out at Austin airport for over an hour,” wrote on Twitter user at the airport. “They just told us power won’t be back up for another hour…. 6:30 am at the earliest… been here since 4 am waiting for flight”.

Whilst food was handed out to passengers inside the terminal waiting, police closed off entrances to the airport to avoid congestion as traffic began to build, KXAN reported.

The airport said immediately following the outage that “No flights are departing as we work with them & our teams to find the cause and restore power,” and urged travellers to check their flight status before arriving at the airport.

Hours later, the airport added in another update that power had been restored and flights would resume with delays. It remains unclear what caused the outage however.

“POWER UPDATE: Austin Energy has restored power to the terminal. TSA has begun screening passengers and we are working with APD to reopen airport roadways,” said the airport, adding: “Please check your flight status before heading out to the airport as delays continue to be expected.”

According to KAXN, it is the second incident to unfold at Bergstrom international after a false fire alarm forced passengers to evacuate on 10 August. The incidents are seemingly unrelated however.