Ongoing impact of Malaysia Airlines incident will mean delays for days
Aviation experts warned the incident on a Malaysia Airlines plane that plunged Sydney Airport into chaos would have “massive repercussions” through airlines schedules that would be felt for days.
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Aviation experts warned the incident on a Malaysia Airlines plane that plunged Sydney Airport into chaos would have “massive repercussions” through airlines schedules that would be felt for days.
A spokesman for Sydney Airport confirmed more than 30 flights had been cancelled with others delayed for up to 90 minutes.
“As a result of this afternoon’s incident, there have been 32 domestic flights cancelled (16 inbound + 16 outbound), with delays of up to 90mins for other domestic flights,” he said.
“Currently no international flight cancellations. Passengers are encouraged to check with their airline regarding the status of their flight.”
A spokesman for Melbourne Airport confirmed all flights to Sydney had been stopped while the incident unfolded. At least 24 flights had been grounded.
“All of the airlines with flights bound for Sydney are grounded at this stage,” A spokesman for Melbourne Airport said.
Qantas planes remained on the blocks on the tarmac at Sydney while fire trucks surrounded the Malaysian Airlines plane which was isolated to the end of a runway.
“This is just going to be one major traffic jam,” an airline insider said. “Operations have been put on a major go slow.”
A Sydney Airport spokesman said that flights remained operational and urged passengers to check in with their airline. It is understood the airport was down to one runway.
“We are currently supporting emergency agencies in the management of an incident at the airport. The airport is operational with flights arriving and departing,” the Airport spokesman said.
Aviation expert Peter Harbison, founder of the CAPA centre for aviation, said the delays would have “massive repercussions” for airline flight schedules for days to come as passengers missed connection flights and jets were rerouted.
More than 50 flights were delayed with more cancelled. Two hours after the Malaysia Airlines plane landed back at Sydney Airport there were 24 jets grounded at Melbourne alone.
“This has happened at peak hour for domestic flights and is starting to affect those long haul flights that may well have to be rerouted to either Melbourne or Brisbane,” he said.
“It is such an incredibly intricate system, it just takes one little thing and the whole system goes haywire,” Mr Harbison said. “We already have issues with not enough air traffic controllers and this means it will be even harder to catch up.”
Flight movements in and out of Sydney Airport are capped at 60 an hour. Trying to catch up with more flights will require a special government dispensation.
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