Sydney Airport has once again been plunged into chaos as passengers pack out terminals.
Hundreds of people started queuing up before dawn on Saturday, wanting to check in for their morning flights.
Angela Cook described the scenes on social media, saying the security line was “out the door” when she arrived at the terminal at 4.30am for a 6am flight.
“No way I’ll make my flight. One line. One security check in line working. That’s just poor planning on (Sydney Airport‘s) part,” she tweeted.
Many other travellers posted photos from where they waited, all showing massive lines and people crammed in the bag check-in area.
“Hell is … this at 5am,” Darren Saunders wrote.
For the past two days, the same chaotic scenes have impacted thousands of travellers.
Sydney Airport chief executive Geoff Culbertsaid it faced “a perfect storm at the moment” from bad weather, school holidays and a high level of staff in isolation either being infected with the virus or deemed a close contact.
“Traffic numbers are picking up, travellers are inexperienced after two years of not travelling, and the close contact rules are making it hard to fill shifts and staff the airport,” he said.
“In some axjmtzywreas, we’re seeing 18 per cent absenteeism at the moment.
“We do continue to apologise, because we’re hoping it won’t be too long before we get back to the norm that we have before Covid.”
Thousands of people were jammed up in long queues on Thursday night that trailed from the security line to the check-in desk and out the front door.
The mayhem has now crept into its third day
