Passengers at Sydney Airport are facing a fresh wave of delays as ongoing staffing issues plague the airport.
Airservices Australia has confirmed rostering issues with their airport’s air traffic control staff are continuing to persist, following travel chaos erupting in recent weeks.
A spokeswoman said air traffic flow management measures had been put in place affecting departures from the airport, which result in greater spacing between takeoffs.
“Airservices Australia is working to keep delays at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport to a minimum this afternoon with measures affecting departures in place to safely manage aviation demand,” the spokeswoman said.
The Daily Telegraph reports that major airline Qantas is preparing for 33 delays of up to an hour this afternoon, while others are expecting delays to persist across the day.
The recent issues, centring on the airports control towers, have resulted in frustrating delays for passengers using the airport- and a knock-on effect to terminals across the nation.
On certain days in recent weeks, more than 150 flights were impacted, with a shortage of air traffic controllers at the root of the problem.
“Working with airlines and our union partners, we are committed to improving the consistency of our performance,” the Airservices Australia spokeswoman added.
“We are building a larger pool of standby air traffic controllers to increase our staffing contingency numbers at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, reduce overtime and deliver stable rosters.
“Airservices acknowledges and thanks our dedicated controllers for their professionalism and work through this challenging period.”
As of about 4pm local time, all domestic departures at the airport were expected to depart on time – although services to Melbourne (4.30pm). Canberra (4.35pm) and Adelaide (5.25pm) have been cancelled.
The day’s remaining international departures were also scheduled to depart on time.
Virgin Australia was informed there would be departure spacing in Sydney of approximately three minutes, which it was told would be enforced between 1.30pm and 5pm.
Currently, the effects on the major airline is proving minimal, with two of its flights experiencing delays of no more than 15 minutes.
Qantas has been approached for comment.
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