Sydney Airport Cancellations Highlight the Risk of Flying in on Cruise Day

For cruise passengers flying into Sydney, today's disruption at Sydney Airport is another reminder of why arriving on embarkation morning can be a gamble.

Around 14 inbound flights were cancelled on Friday morning, 11 September, while other passengers faced delays of more than an hour after a shortage of air traffic controllers forced Airservices Australia to restrict the number of aircraft moving through Sydney Airport.

While operations returned largely to normal later in the day, the staffing problems behind the disruption haven't disappeared.

And for cruise passengers, even a relatively short disruption can have much bigger consequences when there's a ship waiting at the other end.

Perhaps more important for travellers is that Friday's disruption wasn't an isolated incident.

Airservices acknowledged in August that Sydney Airport had experienced recent air traffic disruptions associated with staffing levels and apologised for the impact on passengers.

The agency said it was increasing recruitment, training additional Sydney tower controllers and developing a larger pool of standby controllers to provide greater staffing contingency.

At Friday's Senate hearing, Airservices also revealed that 121 Australian flights had been cancelled due to Airservices staffing shortages in the year to 31 August.

Of those, 103 were at Sydney Airport.

Airservices says additional controllers are being recruited, with more expected to become operational over the coming year.

Sydney is Australia's busiest cruise port, with ships regularly departing from the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay and White Bay Cruise Terminal.

For interstate passengers, flying to Sydney can be the easiest way to reach their cruise.

But a flight scheduled to arrive at 9am for a ship departing later that afternoon doesn't leave much room when something goes wrong.

A cancellation could mean waiting for the next available flight, and delays can quickly flow through the airline network as aircraft and crews find themselves out of position.

And unlike arriving late for a hotel booking, your cruise ship isn't going to wait indefinitely for you.

Even if the original disruption is relatively minor, missing embarkation can potentially mean trying to catch the ship at a later port, where that is permitted and practical, or missing the cruise altogether.

Where possible, it's still the option I'd recommend.

Flying into Sydney the day before embarkation gives you considerably more breathing room if your flight is cancelled or delayed.

It also removes much of the stress from embarkation morning. Instead of watching the flight-tracking app wondering whether you're going to make the ship, you can wake up in Sydney and make your way to the terminal.

Of course, an additional night's accommodation isn't always practical, particularly when travelling as a family.

If you do need to fly in on embarkation day, an early flight gives you a better buffer than arriving around lunchtime, but there will always be an additional element of risk.

There's no suggestion that travellers should avoid Sydney Airport.

Friday's restrictions were lifted during the morning and operations had largely returned to normal by the afternoon.

But the underlying staffing situation means further disruptions are possible.

If you're flying into Sydney for an upcoming cruise, keep an eye on your flight in the days leading up to departure, know what alternative services your airline operates, and make sure your travel insurance provides appropriate cover for the circumstances relevant to your trip.

Most importantly, allow as much buffer as you reasonably can.

Because when your next connection is a cruise ship, “I'll just catch the next one” becomes considerably more complicated.