Mass cancellations and delays at East Coast airports

• Airport travel chaos along Australia’s east coast
• Mass flight cancellations and delays are expected
• Strong winds and personnel problems are behind the problems

Hundreds of travelers face long delays at airports for the third day in a row after strong winds paralyzed flights.

The main airports of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have been affected by a series of cancellations and delays in the last three days due to high winds and staffing problems.

A handful of flights were delayed or canceled at Sydney and Brisbane airports on Sunday morning.

It has resulted in long check-in lines at both airports as airlines desperately try to clear a backlog of widespread cancellations.

Travelers have been urged to arrive at the airport early for their flight and keep up with their flight details.

About 18 departures from Sydney that were canceled on Saturday. It accounted for five percent of all exits out of the city.

Several more flights heading to Sydney were also cancelled.

About 88 percent of flights were also affected by delays in the day, forcing many travelers to wait at least half an hour longer to board their flight.

Most of the cancellations came from Virgin Australia due to staffing issues.

“The multiple air traffic control shortages that have occurred on the network over the past two days, as well as the reduction to one runway in Sydney yesterday, have led to a number of crew displacements and operational issues that are now affecting flights in Sydney. , Melbourne and Brisbane”. the airline spokesman said.

The airline explained that more “disruptions” were expected for Sunday due to the “continued impact of disruptions across the industry over the past two days.”

“All guests affected by the cancellations will recover on the next available flights,” the spokesperson added.

“We apologize to guests affected by delayed or canceled services, and are working tirelessly to ensure all guests reach their final destination.”

High winds have also been blamed as a factor in major airport outages on the East Coast.

Winds from the west reached up to 39 km/h and gusts up to 61 km/h at Sydney Airport on Saturday, according to Weatherzone.

More than 100 flights were canceled in and out of Sydney on Friday due to high winds.

Travel chaos ensues when New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland are on school holidays.

Despite some cancellations and delays, flight monitors show that most departures from the domestic and international terminals at Sydney Airport have left on time for Sunday.