Sydney Airport in chaos as over 50 flights cancelled and holidaymakers left stranded - after one staff member called in sick

Hundreds of travellers were left stranded at Sydney Airport on Friday (14 February) after just one air traffic controller called in sick on late notice. It's understood most passengers will have to wait until Saturday for their rescheduled flights.

Airservices Australia reduced aircraft movement due to poor weather, but the delays were made worse by the sickie which caused 26 departures and 32 arrivals to be axed. Airlines have been scrambling to notify passengers, but some were told about the delays just before boarding.

A replacement air traffic controller was called in, but not before flights were cancelled. Airservices Australia said: “We are working on all measures to minimise further impact, including accommodating additional flights wherever safe.

“Airservices apologises to passengers affected by delays and cancellations. We are disappointed that this has occurred so soon after our strong performance over the Christmas period, when ground delays were at record lows across the network.”

Jetstar had 10 flights that were impacted and a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they had been rushing to find new flights for their customers. Virgin Australia Airlines said 16 of their flights were affected.

Virgin told Daily Mail: “We are in the process of communicating to impacted guests and re-accommodating them on the next available services. We regret this has required the cancellation of some Virgin Australia services to and from Sydney today. Guests booked to travel to and from Sydney today should monitor their flight information closely.”