I'm quite surprised this hasn't been commented on here yet:
Flight snagged by curfew rules - Travel - smh.com.au 17 Nov 2008
FLIGHTS should be allowed to land at Sydney Airport after the 11pm curfew if they have been delayed by wild weather, the chief executive-designate of Qantas says.
Alan Joyce's call for special dispensation for delayed flights came after wild storms in Sydney on Friday night stranded about 2000 passengers.
One of the delayed flights was QF32, which took more than 24 hours to travel between Singapore and Sydney, leaving the aircraft so low on supplies that toilet paper had to be rationed to four pieces per passenger.
Francis Chippeck, travelling with her daughter, Ava, 2, said she was down to her last nappy. "I had to say to her, 'You better not poo."'
The flight was supposed to land in Sydney at 8pm, but the storm forced it to circle for an hour before landing in Canberra to refuel. But it took four hours to arrange for the Boeing 747 to be refuelled, by which time it was too late to land in Sydney.
The airline requested special leave from the Department of Transport to land after the curfew but was refused. It was not until the following morning that the flight touched down in Sydney.
"We do believe when special circumstances do occur that people should recognise the hardship and the impact that it has on people and as a result we think that there should be flexibility in how it's applied," Mr Joyce said.
A spokesman for the Infrastructure Minister, Anthony Albanese, whose electorate is under the flight path, said there would be no relaxation of the curfew.
(additional non-related Qantas news deleted.....)
This is a classic example of what a sham this curfew is. I don't know what the wind was doing at the time, but if it was a northerly this is simply shameful. I expect it would have been southerly/sou-easterly though if the storms were bad enough for a diversion. Even so - for crying out loud - I've heard the pax were held in the aircraft for EIGHT HOURS on the ground in CBR!
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