Qantas passengers were delayed on an airport runway for almost the length of their flight due to a technical glitch
Qantas Airways
- A technical glitch led to several Qantas flight delays across Australia and New Zealand on Sunday.
- Passengers said they were left on "packed planes" on airport runways.
- One passenger complained on Twitter that the delay was almost as long as the flight.
Qantas passengers across Australia were left on packed planes on airport runways due to a technical glitch on Sunday, multiple news outlets reported.
The glitch grounded planes for around 90 minutes from 2.30 p.m. Western Australia (WA) time while the airline tried to resolve the issue, The West Australian reported.
The local news outlet reported that airline staff told passengers that planes couldn't take off until the computers were running as usual.
Some affected passengers complained on social media about the delays.
One passenger said that travelers were "sitting on fully packed planes on the tarmac" and called the 90-minute delay "pretty ridiculous" for a flight of only two hours.
Another traveler suggested it may have been quicker to drive to their destination, Canberra, than wait for the delayed flight.
Both international and domestic flights from Melbourne and Sydney airport were affected by the technical issues on Sunday, per The Guardian.
The glitch also affected some flights in New Zealand. One traveler said via Twitter: "Still waiting at 7 pm to leave on my @Qantas plane from Auckland that was meant to leave at 5.40 pm!!!"
Representatives for Qantas did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.
A Qantas spokesperson told The Guardian on Monday: "We have resolved an IT issue that caused delays of around one hour for some flights on Sunday afternoon."
Airline representatives said that at least a dozen flights had been delayed but said there had been no cancelations due to the glitch, per The Daily Mail.
Eight Qantas flights due to depart from Sydney airport on Monday were canceled, per The Guardian, but the outlet reported that the cancelations were due to staff shortages and sickness, as cases of Covid-19 and flu increase across the country.