Chaos at Sydney Airport as flight cancellations hit hundreds of travelers for second weekend in a row
- Strong winds cause delays in Sydney flights
- One runway closed due to windy conditions
- Staff shortages in Brisbane are also delaying flights
The country’s busiest airport has been reduced to a single runway for a second weekend in a row with high winds, causing more travel disruptions.
More than 40 domestic flights to and from Sydney on Sunday were canceled and dozens more delayed.
A Sydney Airport spokeswoman confirmed that it has moved to single runway operations on the advice of AirServices Australia.
“Although the impact is minimal, there are some flight delays and cancellations,” she said in a statement.
“Passengers should talk to their airline to get the latest information on the status of their flights.”
It is clear that a shortage of air traffic control personnel in Brisbane airspace is causing further delays for passengers.
Passengers have endured a frustrating wait at Sydney airport with high winds closing a runway (generic image pictured)
Sydney Airport usually has two north-south runways, but moves to a single east-west strip in crosswinds.
More than 100 domestic flights were canceled at Sydney Airport last weekend as pilots were confined to one runway due to windy conditions.
The cancellations caused a huge backlog, with huge crowds at the airport’s domestic terminal as the NSW school holidays began.
‘Gusty, westerly crosswind’ also caused the airport to close a runway on Friday.
“This decision is purely weather and safety related to protect the traveling public,” an Australian Airservice spokesman told Nine News.
Strong to damaging winds were predicted to remain over southeastern Australia for at least 48 hours, with Adelaide and Melbourne to see the worst conditions.
More than 200 domestic flights have been canceled at the airport in recent days.
Flights were largely canceled due to poor weather and crew shortages, with Virgin blowing in five return flights alone due to staff unavailability.
The cancellations left several customers frustrated, especially families whose school vacation plans were messed up.
Heavy winds have caused numerous delays at Sydney airport over the past week (generic image pictured)
One Virgin customer said she had ‘never had a worse experience’.
“We were supposed to fly my family to Hobart for a much-anticipated vacation,” she said.
‘After a last minute cancellation and a long wait, a new scheduled flight tomorrow. I’m not confident they’ll get us there.’
Meanwhile, a Qantas customer said her family was delayed for six hours and had technical difficulties checking in.
“Not happy, my partner is very tall and there are two exit rows available on the seat map, but they show up as ‘unavailable’ when we try to select them,” she said.