Domestic and international flights were diverted to Canberra as wild weather and a tornado battered Sydney and closed the city's airport.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Destructive winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall lashed the Sydney metropolitan area on Wednesday, causing widespread diversions and delays across the entire national flight network.
The delays were causing stress for passengers trying to travel in and out of the city, with incoming flights being diverted to Canberra, Newcastle, Melbourne and Brisbane airports.
A Cebu Pacific A330 airbus bound for Sydney from Manila landed on the tarmac at Canberra Airport shortly before 1pm but had left by 2.30pm.
A Canberra Airport spokeswoman said an international charter plane carrying about 12 passengers from New Zealand had been cleared by customs and given domestic status after it was diverted to the capital.
That flight would be rescheduled to leave on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
Qantas flight Q5416 from Melbourne to Sydney was among six domestic flights diverted to Canberra Airport.
A number of flights circled north of Canberra waiting for instructions about 1.30pm, according to aviation tracking website, planefinder.net.
At least two Virgin flights and one Qantas flight departing from Canberra Airport to Sydney were cancelled.
Canberra Airport was described as a "complete shemozzle" by one commuter on Twitter.
A Canberra Airport spokeswoman said the diversions showed the facility's important role as an alternate airport for Sydney.
"A number of international and domestic flights were diverted and there were several domestic flights held on the ground in Canberra waiting for the weather to clear.
"While such severe storms are highly disruptive, there are well-practiced procedures between airports, airlines and the authorities for getting passengers to their destinations as soon as possible once the weather clears and Canberra Airport was back to business as usual by 4.30pm this afternoon."
At least two international flights bound for Sydney have been diverted to Brisbane, with more planes expected to be diverted to Canberra as well as Newcastle, Melbourne and Brisbane airports.
Delays at Sydney Airport are averaging just under one hour but fed-up commuters have abandoned their cars as heavy traffic continues to back up on approach to the airport.
Sydney Airport was still closed as of 5pm due to storm activity.
