A blackout at the airport delayed three Air Malta flights on Saturday morning forcing the airline to check in about 430 passengers manually as all computer systems were down.

The power cut at Malta International Airport, which only affected the check-in desks, is being investigated by the national carrier, which plans to take up the issue with the airport operators, an airline spokesman said.

The affected flights were KM396 to Amsterdam, with 159 passengers on board, KM514 to Vienna, which had 139 passengers, and KM100 to Heathrow, carrying 128 passengers.

The London flight was the worst affected with passengers having to spend about two hours sitting in the plane while everyone was checked in and their luggage processed.

Passengers were asked to identify their own luggage before it was loaded on to the plane as part of standard procedure designed to ensure safety standards in such cases.

Things were complicated further on the Heathrow flight when two passengers who had been checked failed to board.

The rest of the passengers were asked to disembark and identify their luggage again so the bags of the two individuals could be removed.

“Our employees did their utmost to minimise the inconvenience to passengers in these circumstances. Air Malta regrets any inconvenience caused due to circumstances beyond its control,” the spokesman said.

Asked how much such delays would have cost the airline, in terms of missed slots and the snowball effect on other flights, the spokesman said it was too early to put a figure to it.

An MIA spokesman explained that a fault occurred in the airport’s electricity distribution system that affected the check-in desks.

The matter was dealt with but Air Malta had to continue with the manual check-in, which had already started.

There were no other departing flights at the time of the blackout.

mxuereb@timesofmalta.com