‘Absolutely mental’: Travellers are urged to arrive well before their flight amid major delays

Parts of Australia are bracing for major airport delays with flights cancelled and travellers warned to arrive well before their flight.

Airports around Australia are experiencing huge queues and delays amid staff shortages, school holidays and wet weather.

Sydney airport is heaving as school holidays overwhelms the domestic terminal with at least half a dozen flights cancelled on Tuesday morning.

NSW main airport is expecting to see an extra 3m travellers with photos capturing queues more than 100 metres long.

“Absolutely mental at Sydney airport – the queue for Qantas flight is going outside the terminal,” one passenger said.

Absolutely mental at Sydney airport the queue for Qantas flights is going outside the terminal pic.twitter.com/P60xw1Q8ag

— Cameron (@NausicaaOCE) July 3, 2022

“Domestic is insane! Arrived at 5.40am, took an hour to get to the bag drop, despite having already checked in and printed a bag tag. Took about half an hour to get through security,” another passenger said.

On Monday travellers were forced to wait almost two hours to check in as the first official day of school holidays kicked off in the state.

Travellers took to social media to voice their frustrations, with one user writing the airport is in “shambles”.

“Staff shortages and school holidays are not a good combo for work travel … Chaos again at Sydney Airport.” they wrote.

Staff shortages and school holidays are not a good combo for work travel… Chaos again at Sydney Airport. @LozzySimp promise I arrived early🥱 pic.twitter.com/9Ovkj2TkNu

— Emily Foat (@EmilyFoat) July 4, 2022

The lengthy delays follow after an extra 60 customer service staff were employed to manage queues and bring forward passengers in order of flight priority to deal with the peak.

Airport chaos is sweeping across the country as Adelaide airport enters its busiest period since the pandemic began.

A travel rush is underway at the South Australian international terminal as two international airlines reopen for flights to New Zealand and Fiji.

Adelaide airport is getting ready for the busiest few days since the pandemic…with the travel rush well and truly underway. It comes as two major airlines open up more flights today, in time for the school holidays. The advice: arrive early and check-in prior. @9NewsAdelpic.twitter.com/EUpHmJR1t9

— Kelly Hughes (@KellyCHughes_) July 3, 2022

On Friday the airport saw 30,000 people come through its terminal surpassing its previous post pandemic record during the Easter holidays with 26,000 travellers.

In a statement Adelaide Airport CEO Brenton Cox warned travellers to arrive two hours before departure for their domestic flights and three hours for international flights to help avoid delays.

“Our security and customer care teams will be at full capacity to help facilitate customers from kerb to gate – we anticipate that check-in and security queues will be longer than people may have been previously used to,” he said.

Originally published as ‘Absolutely mental’: Travellers are urged to arrive well before their flight amid major delays