For the third time in 48 hours, a power outage caused by wild weather has disrupted traveler plans at Perth Airport.
The indignation was confirmed by the airport on Tuesday afternoon as a result of electrical cables being damaged by the recent extreme weather in the capital of Western Australia.
While Western Power technicians are working feverishly to resolve the issue, they are unable to provide an anticipated time for restoration.
Because of the interruption, the terminal’s illumination is affected and the baggage carousels are unable to run, literally leaving irate travelers in the dark.
While dozens of flights are stopped on the tarmac, delayed, or cancelled, flight information displays are blank.
The airport tweeted on Tuesday night, “Perth Airport will be delaying all departure services scheduled to depart before 7.30pm.”
All incoming flights that are currently in the sky will be able to land without incident.
Until further notice, all scheduled flights into Perth that haven’t already left will be delayed.
Passengers ought to prepare for delays and cancellations.
Our top goal continues to be the security of everyone who uses or works at our airport.
We apologize for any difficulty caused to the customers and travellers.
Online videos show the terminal completely dark, with arriving passengers using their phone flashlights to find their luggage as it is manually hauled into the terminal because the bag carousels are not functioning.
‘I was starving and sitting in a cold, dark boarding gate at Perth Airport.
One woman wrote, “An international airport without enough backup power.”
In other images, the arrival and departure flight boards are empty and without any information.
“Large crowd in the airport. Closed departure gate; no communication.
One traveler told Daily Mail Australia, “I’ve been here for three hours.”
‘My 80 year old mother is on QF943 from Brisbane,’ a worried relative posted.
We don’t know if it can land, but it’s in the air.
According to 6PR listeners, the outage has disrupted both drivers exiting the parking lot and passengers trying to pass through security checkpoints.
As air bridges cannot be deployed to allow passengers to disembark, they are left stuck on the tarmac upon arrival.
Although they may reach us by stairs, nobody knows how to operate the doors.
Looks like there are more stalled planes as well,” a visitor from Broome told WA Today.
As bags cannot be loaded onto aircraft and pilots attempting takeoff have no communication with the airport, those departing are also impacted.
Numerous additional travelers are lined up outside the airport and unable to enter.
The duration of the airport power outage is still uncertain, but there are unsubstantiated claims that repair could take 6–8 hours.
According to Western Power, it is awaiting an anticipated time for restoration from the repair teams and will post an update on its website as soon as one is available.
It occurs as severe weather continues to pound the city, with destructive winds and the possibility of thunderstorms with westerly gusts of 50 to 70 km/h.
The Bureau of Meteorology reported that “strong westerly winds are churning up high surf conditions with surges exceeding 8m off Rottnest Island this morning.”
These winds are expected to last until late Wednesday, and the sea state is not expected to improve until Thursday.
Travelers throughout the country have been impacted by outages and delays three times in the last 48 hours.
Numerous Qantas customers were left stranded due to a widespread computer error on tarmacs and in airport lounges.
Several hours later, hundreds of passengers saw lengthy lines, hold-ups, and cancellations on Monday morning at Sydney and Melbourne Airports due to operational issues.