Strong winds disrupted flights at three major Australian airports on Tuesday, August 11, causing delays and cancellations. Passengers were advised to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
Impact on Sydney Airport
Several flights departing from Sydney were cancelled, with more delays expected throughout the day. A spokesperson for the airport told a local news site: "Strong winds are affecting operations at Sydney Airport and flight delays are expected throughout the day."
According to Airservices Australia's daily plan, more than 780 flights were scheduled to depart from Sydney Airport on Tuesday. Almost 140 of these flights were expected to face delays of about 45 minutes, as reported by a local news outlet.
A ground delay program was in place until 2pm due to the strong winds.
Qantas and Melbourne Airport
A spokesman for Qantas confirmed that two flights from Melbourne and one from Brisbane were cancelled due to poor weather conditions. Passengers on these flights have been rebooked onto other services.
A Melbourne Airport spokesman said it had also experienced delays and cancellations, though operations remained "relatively normal." Close to 620 flights were scheduled to depart Melbourne Airport on Tuesday, with almost 200 facing delays, according to the Airservices Australia plan.
Recent disruptions
The travel disruptions follow a weekend of chaos at Sydney Airport, which included a near-collision between two passenger jets and major flight delays. Control tower staffing issues had previously delayed more than 100 international and domestic flights.
