School holiday airport chaos: Mass delays, cancellations as huge crowds travel

The state’s airports are buckling under school holiday pressure, with flight delays and cancellations causing chaos – and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

• 60-minute delays: Roads blocked

Queensland airports have descended into chaos with flight delays and cancellations causing havoc with school holiday travel plans.

For the second day in a row, Brisbane Airport has been affected by mass cancellations and delays – with the ripple effects felt at airports across the state and the country.

It is understood part of the issue was related to strong winds in Sydney, while staff shortages at Brisbane’s air traffic control unit were also believed to be impacting the operation of flights.

Services across multiple airlines with flights bound for destinations including Newcastle, Emerald, Hervey Bay, Mackay, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne have been cancelled on Friday afternoon along with inbound flights from Miles, Gladstone, Sydney, Moranbah and Newcastle are also among the flights cancelled.

Big crowds at Brisbane Airport on Friday. Picture: Richard Walker

There have also been dozens of flights delayed, while some international flights have been affected as well.

It comes after mass disruptions across the country on Thursday with more than 100 flights either delayed or cancelled.

In a statement, Brisbane Airport’s head of public affairs Stephen Beckett said it was hoped the situation could be resolved to avoid further disruption to holiday travellers.

“This afternoon Airservices Australia which operates Air Traffic Control advised that there may be delays due to a shortage of air traffic controllers,” he said.

“With school holidays beginning today in NSW and plenty of people eager to holiday in Queensland, we hope this will be resolved soon for the travelling public.”

Multiple flights have been cancelled across the state today. Picture: Richard Walker

In a statement, a spokesperson for Airservices Australia acknowledged they were experiencing air traffic management network delays across Brisbane arrivals and departures “due to air traffic controllers’ short-term, unplanned-leave absences”.

“This will affect the network until 11pm, seeing delays of between one-to-two-hours. Unfortunately, this may also see airlines decide to cancel a number of flights,” the spokesperson said.

“Airservices is working with our customer airlines and airports while we continue to closely manage the situation.

“Airservices is enhancing its service resilience by recruiting more than 50 ATC (air traffic control) trainees nationwide in the next three months to add further depth to our ATC rosters.”

A spokesperson for Gold Coast Airport said weather in Sydney was also impacting the travel network.

“Strong winds in Sydney are causing flow on impacts across the network including for flights to and from Gold Coast Airport,” they said.

“Customers are encouraged to check with their airline regarding the status of their flight.”