Perth Airport is in chaos after desperately trying to recover from a total blackout due to severe storms sweeping through the state.
The flights were running, but there were a lot of passengers trying to get through security.
Hundreds of people in high visibility were in Terminal 2 as regional flights took off. The line to get to security was almost out the door as people raced to make their flight on time.
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Terminal 1 was less chaotic, almost a ghost town in comparison, as several flights were still cancelled.
An airport spokeswoman said the terminals were “fully operational” at 10pm last night but the effects of the impact could still be felt.
Perth Airport has announced a comprehensive review of its back-up power systems in light of the power outage.
While the backup power for the critical tracks was being turned on, the terminals collapsed into disordered chaos as the backup power failed to turn on.
Chief executive Kevin Brown said the review would begin immediately to understand why parts of the backup generation system have not been deployed.
“We apologize for the inconvenience the power outage caused passengers and thank them for their patience and understanding that we were dealing with a unique and challenging weather event,” he said.
“The fail-safe generation system for critical safety systems such as runway lighting worked as intended, meaning aircraft could continue to land safely throughout the event.
“Other parts of the backup generation system that provide power to the terminals did not work as intended.
“We need to understand why this happened.
Camera IconPerth Airport has suffered a major power outage. Justin Benson-Cooper Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper/The West Australian
Thousands of passengers were disrupted overnight with dozens of flights delayed or cancelled.
The airport told its passengers to go home and said all flights were canceled due to power outages “outside of its control”, but at around 8pm on Tuesday, it changed its opinion
“With critical services online, Perth Airport is now able to process some passengers through departure security processes,” it said in a statement.
“However, it will take time to clear the backlog of backlogged services.”
At 10:00 p.m., the airport said it was working to activate its systems at its terminals in order to be fully operational after delays and cancellations on the airline networks.
Passengers were warned that some airlines may still decide to cancel and reschedule flights. “We ask passengers for their continued patience as our team and airline partners work to get flights up and running,” the airport said.
Travelers were left sitting in the dark with only torches to light their way.
The severe storms that hit Perth shut down all electricity at the airport in the likes of which some experienced staff had never seen before.
Disgruntled passengers struggled with freshly unloaded luggage as gusty wind and rain battered them as they left the airport to board taxis.
Perth Airport announced the news at around 5.15pm, warning that a power cut would cause long delays for the next two hours.
The airport apologized to passengers, some of whom are understood to be stranded at other airports because they cannot land in Perth.
Camera IconPerth Airport has suffered a major power outage. Image is Angela and Han Nguyen Justin Benson-Cooper Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper/The West Australian
“The safety of everyone who works or travels to our airport remains our highest priority,” the airport said.
“We apologize to our passengers and customers for the inconvenience.”
Perth Airport said the decision to cancel the early evening flights was made based on advice from Western Power.
“Perth Airport has taken the decision to delay all departing services currently scheduled to depart before 7.30pm,” the statement said.
“All inbound flights en route will be able to arrive safely. All flights scheduled to Perth that have not yet departed will be delayed until further notice.”
Hundreds of people were still crowding around the baggage carousels at 7:30 p.m. waiting for their luggage to be unloaded from the planes.
Passengers at the Qantas terminal were reminded to be patient as a “technical issue” prevented people from changing their flight bookings as staff handed out water and chips to affected travellers.
A team in Sydney is currently working to ‘uncheck’ passengers so that flights can be rebooked. “Please be patient and go home, re-book from home as I have been advised delays could take up to two more hours,” the staff announced.
Qantas passengers Angela and Han Nguyen were hoping to be on a flight to Sydney for a three-day work event.
Ms Nguyen, who is pregnant, said at around 3pm they were aware of flight delays.
Camera IconPerth Airport has suffered a major power outage. Justin Benson-Cooper Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper/The West Australian
“We were sitting in the lounge upstairs getting notifications from staff that it was out of their control and they had no idea what was going on,” he said.
“Staff who had been working there for 20 years told us they had never seen anything like it.”
Although “disappointed”, the couple said they were happy to be able to return to their home in Attadale.
The lights came back on just before seven in the afternoon.
Passengers were told to leave as soon as bags were collected and visitors to Perth were told to find their own accommodation. Car parks were packed as people waited to be picked up by transport services.
Melbourne woman Caren Vidler said she had no idea what to do as she frantically tried to find a bed to spend the night.
She was on her way to London when she was stopped at immigration and told her flight had been cancelled.
“I’m going to watch some friends, who are divers, compete in the Commonwealth Games,” he said.
“I’ll be shattered if I can’t see them, that was the purpose of my trip.”
“I’ve never experienced this before, I don’t know anyone in Perth… I’ll need a bed for the night.”
Western Power says emergency crews are working hard in difficult conditions to restore power to Perth.
“Damaging and destructive winds associated with the front have thrown debris, including tree limbs, onto the grid, damaging equipment and downing power lines,” a spokesman said.
“Our priority during the storm is to respond to reported hazards to ensure the safety of the community and our crews.
Camera Icon A power outage has delayed flights at Perth Airport. Credit: Lincoln Baker/The West Australian
“Our network operations team is working to isolate damaged parts of the network and feed back where possible to restore power where it is safe to do so.”
It comes as Perth braces for more damaging winds to lash the state after thousands were left without power and property damaged overnight.
On Tuesday night, 11,000 homes in Perth and the South West were without power.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for the Goldfields, Eucla, Lower West, South West, South Coast, South East Coast, Great Southern, Central Wheat Belt and parts of the Gascoyne, South Interior and Central West districts.
A high wind warning is also in place for Melville Waters and the Gascoyne Coast.
These winds are expected to continue into the early hours of Wednesday and the Bureau has warned that gusty winds could cause damage to homes and property, particularly on the coast and nearby inland, becoming more isolated inland interior