Flight timetables were thrown into chaos at a major Australian airport after a destructive storm ripped through south-east Queensland on Friday night.
Shortly before 8am on Saturday there were at least 18 cancelled domestic flights into Brisbane Airport while many more, including international flights, have been thrown into disarray with delays lasting well into Saturday afternoon.
The disruptions followed heavy rain, hail, and gale force winds as strong as a category 3 cyclone lashing the city overnight.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Shane Kennedy said the storm was ‘quite vicious’ and winds up to 169km/h had left downed trees and electrical lines through the city.
Stephen Beckett, a Brisbane Airport spokesperson, said the weather event impacted multiple flights departing and arriving from the city and many passengers were directed to other airports and had to then make their way to Brisbane.
Schedules are expected to slowly return to normal over the course of the day.
Brisbane Airport is slowly getting back on schedule after a massive storm caused widespread flight cancellations and redirections on Friday night and delays well into Saturday (file image)
A Qatar Airways flight into Brisbane on Friday night was redirected to Sydney because of the wild storm, with passengers having to make their way to Brisbane
‘A number of flights were redirected to other airports including Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Maroochydore,’ Mr Beckett told The Courier Mail.
‘As we wake up this morning there are lots of planes in the wrong location,’ he said.
‘For example Qatar airlines coming into Brisbane were forced to land in Sydney,’ he said.
He advised passengers to monitor their flight schedules with the airline directly and also Brisbane Airport to make sure they have the latest information.
He said the airport was ‘doing its best’ to support passengers to arrive at their intended destinations heading into the festive season.