BWI Airport Power Restored After Nearby Fire Delayed, Canceled Flights

Updated at 1:51 p.m. Monday

LINTHICUM, MD — Power was restored at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport around noon Monday after an hours-long outage caused dozens of flight delays and cancelations.

A fire and power wires down near WB&A Road and Park 100 Drive south of the airport caused the outage, a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. spokesperson told The Baltimore Sun.

"Expect long lines at ticket counters, checkpoints and concessions. It will take some time this afternoon for full, regular operations to resume.," BWI Airport said on Facebook after the outage was resolved.

A total of 152 flights in and out of BWI had been delayed as of 12:20 p.m. Monday, according to tracking website FlightAware. In addition, 52 flights were canceled.

Many inbound flights already in progress were diverted, while others were held at their origins before takeoff.

FlightAware said the average departure delay peaked at two hours. The average arrival delay maxed out around an hour and a half.

The airport announced the outage at 8:36 a.m., saying the blackout hit the main terminal and the hourly garage.

Power was slowly being restored to areas in the main terminal by 9:50 a.m. Some airlines used stairs to deplane passengers, and security checkpoints reopened in phases as electricity returned.

BWI advised travelers to confirm their flight status with their airline.