Qantas Sydney to Manila, Philippines flight makes U-turn amid airport chaos after Jetstar Bali chaos

Passengers on a Qantas plane from Sydney to the Philippines endured a nightmare eight-hour flight to nowhere after a power outage at Manila airport forced it to turn around.

The Airbus 330 had to return to Sydney on Sunday night after a mid-air U-turn just as it passed west of the tip of Cape York in far north Queensland.

It had to return via Australia’s east coast after the airport in the Philippine capital suffered a power outage that shut down air traffic control and closed airspace.

Passengers on a Qantas plane from Sydney to the Philippines endured a nightmare eight-hour flight to nowhere after Manila airport closed while in the air.

The Philippine capital’s airport was hit by a power outage that shut down air traffic control and closed airspace.

Flight QF19 to Ninoy Aquino International Airport had left Sydney at 12:30 p.m. on New Year’s Day, but landed, right where it started, at 7:50 p.m.

Qantas bosses feared the plane might have run out of fuel if it flew to Manila and was forced to circle for hours as technicians struggled to restore power.

It was one of nearly 300 diverted flights, and by midafternoon on New Year’s Day, the normally busy airspace over the Philippines was completely empty of air traffic.

It comes just three days after a Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Bali had to turn around after airline staff forgot to fill out the correct paperwork for their plane.

Flight JQ35 was packed with tourists from Bali when it left Melbourne on Tuesday night after being delayed for five hours.

But after four hours of travel, with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner somewhere over Broome, Western Australia, he was forced to turn around and fly back to Melbourne.

A Jetstar spokesman said the airline had used a larger Boeing 787 plane to carry more customers during the holidays, but failed to get approval from Indonesian regulators.

Qantas flight QF19 was one of nearly 300 diverted flights, and by mid-afternoon on New Year’s Day, the normally busy airspace over the Philippines was completely empty of air traffic.

Sunday’s electrical problems at the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center were first noted at 9am local time, shortly before the Qantas flight first left Sydney.

Initially it was reported that “technical problems” restricted the use of some radio channels, but they quickly escalated to trigger the complete closure of local airspace.

Power was successfully restored some eight hours later and flights finally resumed after the chaotic series of diversions and U-turns.

A Brisbane to Manila Philippines Airlines flight PR222 was among the first to land at the reopened airport at around 5pm local time, which was soon followed by a separate Philippines Airlines Sydney to Manila flight.

The daily flight Sydney QF19, which normally takes about 7 hours and 30 minutes, was due to land in Manila at 17:30 local time.

Qantas bosses feared that Airbus 330s like the one pictured could run out of fuel if they flew to Manila and were forced to circle for hours as technicians struggled to restore power.

The Qantas flight then took off again from Sydney at 11:37 p.m. and successfully reached Manila at 3:53 a.m. local time.

It is understood that the delay in returning to the air after landing in Sydney was due to the long line to land at the Manila airport when it reopened.

A Qantas spokesperson added: “All airlines were prevented from reaching Manila on Sunday afternoon when local authorities closed local airspace.

“This meant our flight from Sydney had to turn around.”