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Strong winds have disrupted almost 100 flights in and out of Sydney Airport.
Key points:
- The Bureau of Meteorology predicts damaging winds may reach 90kmh
- Airservices Australia says it has enacted single-runway operations
- There are severe weather warnings in place for several parts of NSW
The airport's website has recorded more than 50 inbound and more than 40 outbound domestic cancellations for throughout the day.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has forecast winds reaching up to 90 kilometres per hour from this morning.
A Sydney Airport spokesperson urged passengers to contact their airline.
"A number of airlines have decided to consolidate services," the spokesperson said.
"Passengers who are travelling today are advised to get in touch with their airline to check the status of their flights."
An Airservices Australia spokesperson confirmed it enacted a single-runway at 10:30am due to strong westerly crosswinds.
"This decision is purely weather and safety-related to safeguard the travelling public," the spokesperson said.
Airlines were advised to cancel some flights as a safety precaution, but services were able to continue out of both runways for much of the morning.
One woman at the terminal said multiple flight cancellations had cut her holiday to Adelaide in half.
"We got here last night and our replacement flight has just been cancelled, so we have to come back tomorrow," she said.
She said it was another tiring factor while travelling with two young children.
"It’s just a juggle, I had to sit down and find somewhere to breastfeed, which is not their fault, but it's an extra juggle with a little tiny one."
SES on high alert
The winds have led to severe weather warnings being issued for parts of the state including the South Coast, Hunter, Illawarra, and across the state's central and southern ranges, which was later cancelled at midday.
The NSW State Emergency Service was on high alert but said the winds would mostly ease by midday on Thursday, though they could persist into early afternoon for the far south-east of the state.
"NSW SES is expecting calls and incidents to increase over the next few hours as people report overnight activity associated with high winds and rainfall," an SES release said.
There were 250 incidents attended by the SES in the last 24 hours, and 97 of them were during an intense storm in the Newcastle and Hunter areas overnight.
A flood watch has also been issued for minor and moderate flooding for the Upper Murray, Corowa, Mitta Mitta and Snowy Rivers.