Sydney Airport thrown into chaos by major technical issue

SOME flights to Melbourne are delayed with a technical issue throwing Sydney Airport into chaos this morning. Hundreds of passengers have been left stranded with no indication of when the backlog will be cleared.

SYDNEY Airport has been thrown into chaos with passengers told to avoid T1 and T2 terminals due to a major technical problem.

There are reports that a technical issue is affecting people near the security and check-in areas.

Photos on social media shows massive queues. There is no indication when the backlog will be cleared.

The T3 Qantas terminal has not been affected.

Chaos at check-in at Sydney Airport Terminal T2. Picture: Twitter @StephenSmiley

Passengers slump in chairs waiting for news at T2 Terminal. Picture: Twitter @KatherineGriffo

“We’re experiencing technical issues at T1 and T2 causing interruptions to passenger processing and delays,” Sydney Airport tweeted this morning.

“We’re working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and thank you for your patience. “We’re advising passengers and visitors to avoid T1 and T2 until further notice.

Passengers were left frustrated at the system failure.

Due to a technical issue at Sydney Airport's domestic and international terminals, guests are being processed through security at a reduced capacity. We are holding flights to minimise any disruption to passengers, and working to reaccommodate affected guests.

— Virgin Australia (@VirginAustralia) March 8, 2018

Andrew Telfer tweeted: “Comms were very poor, bags on scanner belt then all stop for nearly an hour before we were moved back to check-in area... get your disaster planning sorted.”

Jennifer Olding, who has been at the airport since 4am, said the gates between the departure and security remained closed.

“They announced that they had a power outage and so no one could go through border security,” she said.

Ms Olding said it wasn’t clear how long it would take to fix and even airline staff were unable to proceed past the gates.

Friday is one of the busiest travel days for Sydney Airport with thousands passing through the check-in gates during the morning alone.

Sydney Airport General Manager of Corporate Affairs Sally Fielke told Alan Jones crews were working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.

Absolute scenes at #SydneyAirport @SydneyAirport after they stopped letting people through security due to an issue with the X-ray machine. Massive queues! pic.twitter.com/phbpjA6XR0

— Callum M Batchelor (@callumichaelb) March 8, 2018

“We’ve got the IT and technical teams working at the moment with the software provider.

“Our key priority is we’ve got to get this glitch fixed. What it means at the moment is we can’t process outbound passengers.

Queues were snaking back to the the entrance of the T2 Terminal.. Picture: Twitter @roshaimurdoch

“People who have booked flights to head out this morning… we are unable to process them.

“We’re asking passengers. You’re going to have to be a little bit patient this morning.”

Today’s disruption comes 24 hours after the domestic terminals experienced problems with water supply, with travellers complaining that toilets wouldn’t flush.

Both the T2 and T3 domestic terminals were affected.

Customers took to social media to vent their frustration before the problem was fixed.

In September last year, thousands of passengers were left stranded following an air traffic control system failure.

Originally published as Sydney Airport thrown into chaos by major technical issue