Source: MSN (Story by Aidan Wondracz)
Sydney Airport has been thrown into chaos with a shortage of air traffic control staff sparking dozens of flight cancellations.
The shortage has affected Qantas and Virgin Australia flights on Thursday, with some planes forced to wait on the tarmac for as long as two hours.
Airlines for Australia and New Zealand chief executive Stephen Beckett said he had to wait more than half an hour.
‘This is not an isolated incident,’ he said.
‘There have been ongoing and protracted issues with air services, ability to staff the air traffic control towers. It’s causing crush. It’s causing consumers a great deal of frustration.
‘It’s incredibly frustrating that Airservices Australia has been unable to find enough staff to keep the airport running. When there are delays in or out of Sydney, it impacts the entire national network.’
Thirty Qantas and Jetstar flights and ten Virgin Australia services have already been cancelled.
Airservices Australia released a statement saying it had ‘briefed airlines on the need for air traffic controllers to implement spacing intervals for aircraft arriving and departing Sydney today to safely manage operations while a number of our local staff are on short-notice sick and carers leave’.