“Reduced staffing at Airservices Australia may cause some flight delays today. Passengers are encouraged to check with their airline regarding the status of their flight,” a Sydney Airport spokesperson said, News.Az reports, citing Australian media.
According to FlightRadar, at least 25 flights scheduled between 6:30 a.m. and 9:40 p.m. have been cancelled. All major airlines have been affected by the disruption.
Qantas confirmed at least 30 cancellations, Virgin Australia reported eight, and Jetstar had six cancellations while experiencing delays of at least 90 minutes across its network.
Airlines have notified affected customers via SMS.
Airservices Australia said the unforeseen shortage of air traffic controllers required aircraft to be staggered to maintain safety, leading to widespread delays and cancellations at the airport.
“Airservices has 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,” an Airservices Australia spokesperson said.
“We will keep delays to a minimum and apologise for any impact to our customers and the travelling public.”
Airlines for Australia and New Zealand chief executive officer Stephen Beckett is among those hit by the staff shortage on Thursday, facing delays out of Brisbane and in Sydney.
“The air traffic controller shortage in Sydney meant my flight was delayed on departure, and when we arrived in Sydney there was no bay for it to park in, because the departing flights weren’t able to leave, so it impacted both ends of that trip,” Mr Beckett said.
“It’s enormously frustrating, and we’re seeing delays right across the network because Airservices can’t staff the tower.
“We’ve got an aviation white paper that is solely focused on improving the services of airlines and the aviation industry for Australian consumers. We ask that Air Services Australia, step up and find a solution to what is now an ongoing problem.”
“This is playing havoc with people’s plans for holidays, to go to events, weddings, funerals, but also corporate and business travellers.
Airservices Australia has said it continues to recruit staff to cover short notice absences, quoting a December review which said it had exceeded a target of 85 new controllers for 2025.
A spokesperson said: “Despite our heightened focus on holiday resilience, unplanned absences resulted in some adhoc flow restrictions and service variations around Perth, Brisbane and Sydney.”
The major airlines have urged passengers who plan to travel on Thursday and Friday to stay up to date with the latest information and check for SMS and Email updates.
