Qantas cancels 15 flights following air traffic control staffing, engineering maintenance issues

The national carrier cancelled more than a dozen flights around the country on Sunday leaving passengers waiting around in domestic airports.

More than a dozen Qantas flights were cancelled around the country on Sunday amid air traffic control staffing issues in Sydney and engineering maintenance issues.

It is understood a total of 15 flights were affected, including an Adelaide-bound flight from Sydney.

Seven flights due to take off from Melbourne were also cancelled. Flights from Perth, Canberra and Hobart were also affected.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the airline worked to rebook passengers on another flight within hours.

“We know how important punctuality is to our customers and we are focused on getting them to their destination on time more often,” she said.

“While we understand that any flight delay or cancellation is frustrating, our teams work to rebook customers on an alternative flight within a few hours.”

The national carrier cancelled more than a dozen flights around the country on Sunday. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The 15 cancelled flights represent around 2.9 per cent of the 517 Qantas domestic and regional flights planned for by 5pm on Sunday.

In some cases, a disruption to one flight could impact several because an airline’s domestic pilots and aircraft often operate multiple sectors.

Qantas’ daily cancellation rate in recent months has hovered between 2 and 3 per cent.

Last Sunday, Qantas cancelled 11 flights from capital cities due to national pilot shortage and maintenance issues, making up just over 3 per cent of Qantas services.

Then on Monday, 13 flights between capital cities were axed by the national carrier.

In June, the airline was reported as the most punctual airline with some 80 per cent of its flights taking off on time.