Grim news for Aussies flying during Easter holidays

There is more grim news for travellers with plans to fly from Sydney as the city’s airport is overwhelmed by a third day of absolute mayhem.

There is more bad news for people flying during the Easter holidays following days of chaos at Sydney Airport.

As travellers faced massive queues for a third day of travel chaos, Sydney Airport said the unusually busy scenes could last for weeks, possibly stretching through to Anzac Day later this month.

“We are working around the clock to resolve these issues and have teams in the terminals bringing passengers forward in order of priority,” a Sydney airport spokesperson said.

“[We’re] anticipating it will [be] busy right through the school holiday period and peak over the Easter and Anzac Day weekends, in some cases at 90 per cent of pre-Covid passenger levels”.

The contracted company for the airport’s security, Certis, is trying to recruit more staff to fix the problem.

In the meantime, airport back office, IT and retail workers have been reallocated to the departure hall looking for passengers at risk of missing their flight so they could be prioritised.

Chaos could also strike Melbourne, Gold Coast

Meanwhile, Melbourne Airport has also warned it expects the Easter holidays to be the busiest travel period in two years, with 1.4 million travellers expected over the next two and a half weeks.

The airport’s chief of aviation encouraged people to plan ahead and arrive early.

“Processing times may be longer than usual, and we expect that there will be queues for check-in and security,” Lorie Argus said.

“The road network will also likely be busy, and passenger drop-off points and car parks will be congested during peak travel times.”

Ms Argus urged travellers to be respectful of one another as well as airport staff.

Melbourne Airport is expected to have about 1.4 million people travel through over the next two and a half weeks. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Earlier this week, Gold Coast Airport recorded its busiest days in two years as more than 21,000 passengers travelled through on Friday 1 April.

The airport expects another record to be broken over Easter as 28,000 seats are scheduled.

Queensland Airports Limited CEO Chris Mills said Gold Coast Airport passenger and flight numbers were recovering quickly thanks to the popularity of the region.

“It is fantastic to see numbers recovering at this pace after two challenging years for the airport and tourism sector we support,” he said.

“After a challenging two years, confidence in travel is returning, and the region is seeing the benefits of the leisure market recovery in particular.”

Gold Coast Airport recorded its busiest days in two years earlier this week and expects another record will be broken over Easter. Picture: Glenn Hampson

To keep up with the demand over the Easter holidays, Qantas and Jetstar will operate at 110 per cent of its domestic capacity compared to 2019, flying around 500,000 passengers from April 14 to April 18.

In preparation, the company stood up all of its staff and will have the majority of its domestic cabin crew pilots and airport staff working over Easter to accommodate.

Jetstar will also continue to operate dozens of flights with its larger international Boeing 787 aircraft.

Travellers have been encouraged to check-in and select their seat online as it opened 24 hours before departure, arrive at the airport up to two hours early so queues at security checkpoints could be managed, and to remember to remove laptops and aerosols out of bags at security screening.

Qantas and Jetstar are predicted to fly around 500,000 passengers over the Easter long weekend. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Hundreds of people started queuing up at Sydney Airport before dawn on Saturday, wanting to check in for their morning flights.

Luke Mahoney, 27, arrived at the airport at 5.30am for a 7am flight to Melbourne and said the “crazy” scenes “looked like a social experiment to see who had the most patience”.

The Cronulla resident told NCA NewsWire there was no way of knowing where lines started or finished or which line was for security or baggage drop.

“There was no organisation so people didn’t know what was going on,” Mr Mahoney said.

“For the first 30 minutes we were in the line, we didn't see a single staff member there to try chaperone or organise people.

“It wasn’t until (15 minutes later) that a couple of staff turned up and tried to do something but it was like trying to throw a bucket of water on a house fire.

“It brought out the worst in human kind. People were tired and agitated and everyone was getting frustrated with each other.

Mr Mahoney said he expected the airport to be more organised after experiencing similar scenes in previous days.

Sydney Airport has been thrown into chaos for the third consecutive day. Picture: Twitter via Kate McClymont

Angela Cook described the scenes on social media, saying the security line was “out the door” when she arrived at the terminal at 4.30am for a 6am flight.

“No way I’ll make my flight. One line. One security check in line working. That’s just poor planning on (Sydney Airport‘s) part,” she tweeted.

Many other travellers posted photos from where they waited, all showing massive lines and people crammed in the bag check-in area.

“Hell is … this at 5am,” Darren Saunders wrote.

For the past two days, the same chaotic scenes have impacted thousands of travellers.

Airport staff have been struggling to keep up with many employees in isolation. Picture: Twitter via @whereisdaz

Sydney Airport chief executive Geoff Culbertsaid it faced “a perfect storm at the moment” from bad weather, school holidays and a high level of staff in isolation either being infected with the virus or deemed a close contact.

“Traffic numbers are picking up, travellers are inexperienced after two years of not travelling, and the close contact rules are making it hard to fill shifts and staff the airport,” he said.

A spokesman for the airport told NCA NewsWire the airport was predicted to see up to 90 per cent of pre-Covid passenger levels right through the school holiday period and peak over the Easter and Anzac Day weekends.

“We are working around the clock to resolve these issues and have teams in the terminals bringing passengers forward in order of priority,“ they said.

“We’re deeply grateful to passengers for their ongoing patience and we’re sorry to everyone who has been inconvenienced.

“We would also like to thank passengers for getting to the airport early and treating staff and each other with kindness and respect.”

Hundreds were already seen lining up at the bag check-in at 5.30am. Picture: Twitter via @MiniMarilynAU

NCA NewsWire understands no reports were made from airlines of passengers missing flights this morning due to the congestion.

About 20 per cent of airport shifts have been affected by Covid related staff shortages — many of the impacted operational roles require technical skills, ruling out bringing in casual staff as the airport does not want to compromise on safety.

Thousands of people were jammed up in long queues on Thursday night that trailed from the security line to the check-in desk and out the front door.

The mayhem has now crept into its third day.