Mass delays and cancellations of flights at Perth Airport due to fuel issues

A fuelling issue at one Australian airport has sparked the cancellation or delay of more than 80 flights across the country.

Mass cancellations and flight delays have seen travellers at one Australian airport waiting for hours. Perth Airport has had nine international and five domestic flights cancelled, with more predicted. It is understood this is due to a problem with the load pressure in the fuel lines. Picture: Supplied

A refuelling issue that caused mass cancellations and flight delays at Perth Airport has now been resolved.

A spokesman told NewsWire the airport had experienced “a significant issue with its fuel supply system which is having a major impact on flight operations”.

“The issue has resulted in a loss of pressure in the refuelling system,” they said.

About 70 of the airport’s scheduled domestic and international flights had been cancelled.

It’s understood that the fuelling issue has now been fixed.

Mass cancellations and flight delays have seen travellers at one Australian airport waiting for hours. Perth Airport has had nine international and five domestic flights cancelled, with more predicted. It is understood this is due to a problem with the load pressure in the fuel lines. Picture: ABC News

“We again thank both passengers and our airline partners for their patience and understanding.”

Other major airports across the country have been affected by the fuelling issue, with a spokesperson for Melbourne Airport stating they’ve had to cancel eight flights.

“Four flights inbound and four flights outbound have been cancelled,” they said.

In Sydney, 11 domestic flights have been cancelled and Brisbane has seen five axed.

In Adelaide, a Jetstar flight from Adelaide to Perth originally scheduled to depart at 3pm was cancelled, while the airline’s Perth to Adelaide flight set to land at 10.10pm was also abandoned.

Virgin and Qantas flights across Saturday were expected to be delayed, with Adelaide Airport recommending travellers heading to Perth contact airlines for the most up-to-date flight details.

Minister for Veterans Affairs Matt Keogh, speaking in WA on Saturday, said he understood passengers had been left frustrated by the chaos.

“I feel for the passengers firstly, because whenever one is caught up with chaos at an airport, it’s highly stressful,” he said.

“People are trying to move across the country and around our state and we know just how important Perth airport is to the economic lifeblood of Western Australia with such a significant FIFO workforce as well. So I feel for the passengers.”

The airport has apologised to passengers for the inconvenience caused and urged them to contact their airlines for more information about the status of their flight.

Travellers who have been affected by the chaos aired their grievances on social media, with one person stating to have been waiting “since midnight”.

Furious travellers have expressed their anger on social media. Picture: @KillianHarty/X

Others have posted humours tweets to laugh through the frustration. Picture: @hipstergeddon/X

“Have been stuck at Perth Airport since midnight waiting to fly out – seems ridiculous they don’t have a back up plan for the fuel issues,” traveller Natalie Forrest posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Still here, going for almost 12 hours now and still got 4 hours to go (maybe?)” another person wrote.

“Can someone at Perth airport just pop down to their local BP real quick?” one person tweeted.