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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/sep/25/chaos-at-sydney-airport-as-flights-cancelled-at-start-of-school-holidays
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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Chaos at Sydney airport as flights cancelled at start of school holidays | Chaos at Sydney airport as flights cancelled at start of school holidays |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Sydney airport was thrown into chaos on the first day of the NSW school holidays after a technical problem grounded all departing flights. | Sydney airport was thrown into chaos on the first day of the NSW school holidays after a technical problem grounded all departing flights. |
| Hundreds of passengers were affected after power in the traffic systems operations went down about 5am on Monday. Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetstar all confirmed the problem was affecting their flights. | Hundreds of passengers were affected after power in the traffic systems operations went down about 5am on Monday. Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetstar all confirmed the problem was affecting their flights. |
| The technical glitch was resolved by 9am and the airport was working to get through a backlog of delayed flights. | |
| Power in the traffic systems operations went down with air traffic control having to revert to a manual process for departing flights, at a reduced rate. | |
| “The issued has been addresses but the airport is not at normal capacity. We are working hard to clear the backlog of flights,” Air Services Australia spokeswoman Sarah Fulton said. | |
| Frustrated plane commuters at Sydney Airport massive delays @abcnews .. due to systems failure pic.twitter.com/7cSAr3ZINq | Frustrated plane commuters at Sydney Airport massive delays @abcnews .. due to systems failure pic.twitter.com/7cSAr3ZINq |
| One passenger in a plane delayed on the tarmac said the captain had told them air traffic control was using manual systems to dispatch planes, which meant only about 15 could leave every hour, compared with the normal 80. | One passenger in a plane delayed on the tarmac said the captain had told them air traffic control was using manual systems to dispatch planes, which meant only about 15 could leave every hour, compared with the normal 80. |
| I am meant to be on the 8:00 flight, we are all lining up, but just realised the actually is no plane here #SydneyAirport #airtrafficcontrol https://t.co/1j4he2VHzu | I am meant to be on the 8:00 flight, we are all lining up, but just realised the actually is no plane here #SydneyAirport #airtrafficcontrol https://t.co/1j4he2VHzu |
| A Virgin Australia spokeswoman confirmed all of its flights had been grounded by the technical glitch. | |
| The airline said it would try to get all of its passengers on their way as quickly at it could after the problem was fixed. | The airline said it would try to get all of its passengers on their way as quickly at it could after the problem was fixed. |
| “We will be contacting those guests who may be impacted but we encourage all guests to check the flight status page,” the spokeswoman said. | “We will be contacting those guests who may be impacted but we encourage all guests to check the flight status page,” the spokeswoman said. |
| Domestic passengers at the airport tweeted photos of a departures board with flight status reading “delayed – due ATC radar failure”. | Domestic passengers at the airport tweeted photos of a departures board with flight status reading “delayed – due ATC radar failure”. |
| Sydney airport urged travellers to be patient. | Sydney airport urged travellers to be patient. |
| “Flights are delayed due to an @airservices system issue. Please check with your airline for flight status. Thanks for your patience”, the airport tweeted. | “Flights are delayed due to an @airservices system issue. Please check with your airline for flight status. Thanks for your patience”, the airport tweeted. |
| The knock-on affects were felt in Melbourne, where school holidays were also beginning. Planes due to fly from Melbourne to Sydney remained on the tarmac and delays were expected throughout the day, a Melbourne airport spokesman said. | The knock-on affects were felt in Melbourne, where school holidays were also beginning. Planes due to fly from Melbourne to Sydney remained on the tarmac and delays were expected throughout the day, a Melbourne airport spokesman said. |
| #sydneyairport currently topping @flightradar24's delay index for the airport w/longest delays anywhere in the world. @abcnews @abcsydney pic.twitter.com/BrlI8wLITq | #sydneyairport currently topping @flightradar24's delay index for the airport w/longest delays anywhere in the world. @abcnews @abcsydney pic.twitter.com/BrlI8wLITq |