Strong winds continue to wreak havoc at Sydney Airport
Chaos continues as flights to Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast are affected. Photo: Twitter
More than 55 flights were cancelled on Friday morning as strong wind gusts of up to 56 kilometres wreaked havoc at Sydney’s domestic airport.
Airlines are still playing catch-up from Thursday’s flying bungle with up to 100 flights cancelled yesterday after 72 kilometres winds were recorded on the tarmac.
Hundreds of passengers remain grounded at Sydney Airport, creating long queues through airline terminals as the domino effect of flight cancellations and delays continue.
Sydney Airport has yet to estimate how long it will take to clear the backlog, but passengers have told media airlines have advised they may have to wait for days to get on another flight.
Air Services Australia said the airport would shift to single runway mid-morning.
ASA estimated wait times would be double with planes taking off one at a time to Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
“It’s a combination of strong wind and also a crosswind,” ASA spokesman Sarah Fulton said.
“So it’s going across the runway, which means we do have to use the smaller runway rather than both the two larger parallels.”
Sydney Airport advised passengers to check with their airline for updated flight status information on Twitter.
Social media has been awash with upset passengers as well as those trying to fight light in the flight chaos
Canadian singer songwriter Ria Mae quoted a staff member telling jokes via the intercom on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/riaisawake/status/907641571658649600
Sydney airport was cray. Sitting on the beach right now, windy but relaxing
— 🏃🏼♀️🏃🏼♀️ (@Ikhouvanjou75) September 15, 2017
The international terminal in Sydney has not been affected.
-with ABC