AUSTRALIA. Perth: A power outage caused by severe weather has hampered operations at Perth Airport for the third time in 48 hours. The airport confirmed the outage on Tuesday afternoon, due to which the Perth airport’s power lines were damaged by strong weather.
While Western Power technicians are working tirelessly to resolve the issue, they are unable to provide an anticipated time for restoration.
With critical services back on line, Perth Airport is now able to process some passengers through the outbound security processes. Departing services will resume shortly, however it will take some time to clear the backlog of delayed services.
Due to the interruption, the terminal’s illumination is affected, and the baggage carousels cannot run, leaving irate travellers in the dark.
While dozens of flights are stopped on the tarmac, delayed, or cancelled, flight information displays are blank.
“Perth Airport will be delaying all outbound services scheduled to depart before 7.30 pm,” the airport tweeted on Tuesday night.
“Passengers should expect delays/cancellations. The safety of everyone who works in or is travelling through our airport remains our highest priority. We apologise to passengers and customers for any inconvenience,” the airport added.
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.
In other images, the arrival and departure flight boards are empty and without any information.
According to 6PR listeners, the outage has disrupted both drivers exiting the parking lot and passengers trying to pass through security checkpoints.
Air bridges cannot be deployed to allow passengers to disembark, so they are left stuck on the tarmac upon arrival.
As bags cannot be loaded onto aircraft and pilots attempting takeoff have no communication with the airport, those departing are also impacted.
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.
“Strong westerly winds are whipping up heavy surf conditions with swells reaching 8m off Rottnest Island this morning,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.
“These winds will continue through until late Wednesday, with sea conditions not set to ease until Thursday.”
For the third time in the past 48 hours, disruptions and delays have plagued travellers all around the country.
Due to a widespread computer error, numerous Qantas customers were stuck on tarmacs and in airport lounges.
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