Flights were stranded at Manchester Airport last night and this morning due to problems with fuel supplies.
The airport said 13 aircraft were stuck on the tarmac unable to refuel.
A spokesman said most were delayed for less than 30 minutes but a flight to Tunisia, scheduled to leave at 6am this morning, was delayed for two and a half hours.
"Most of the airlines put their contingency plans into place and they’ve been able to fill up at their airports of origin," said a spokesman.
The shortage was due to problems at the airport’s supplier, the Essar refinery near Ellesmere Port on Merseyside.
"Although we initially warned about the potential for some cancellations and diversions based on the information from the fuel companies yesterday afternoon, disruption to passengers has been kept to an absolute minimum thanks to the airlines and the Essar refinery," said Chris Formby, operations director at Manchester Airport.
"On behalf of the thousands of passengers travelling today and last night, we would like to thank our airline partners for the huge effort they put into contingency planning to mitigate the highly unusual problem with the fuel supply.
"Although it was only a relatively small number of people affected, we are also grateful to those passengers who were delayed this morning for their patience and understanding."
by Bev Fearis
