Airservices 'tech issue' grounds Sydney flights

The operators of Sydney Airport have blamed Airservices for a “system issue” that grounded planes to and from Sydney this morning.

The airport operator finally confirmed via Twitter that “flights are delayed due to an Airservices system issue.”

Flights are delayed due to an @AirservicesNews system issue. Please check with your airline for flight status. Thanks for your patience.

— Sydney Airport ✈️ (@SydneyAirport) September 24, 2017

It advised passengers to check with their respective airlines for updated flight information.

Airservices also confirmed the problems, noting it was “working to rectify the issue while managing traffic safely”.

✈️ We have a confirmed technical issue @SydneyAirport. We are working to rectify the issue while managing traffic safely.

— AirservicesAustralia (@AirservicesNews) September 24, 2017

Multiple news reports attributed the problems to a power outage at air traffic control, which had downed its systems.

However, ABC reported the specific impact was to a “flight planning system, which feeds into the radar”.

A handful of flights began to take-off preparations around 7am AEST.

However, it appears as of 7.30am the problems have been fixed, according to passengers quoting airline lounge announcements.