From today's SMH...somewhat related?
Airport chaos - and worse to come
Date
March 1, 2013 - 6:20PM
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Jacob Saulwick and Sherrill Nixon
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TRAVELLERS flying in or out of Sydney should be prepared for a tough month if dreary weather holds after a key plane navigation system was shut down.
The Instrument Landing System at Sydney Airport is closed for an upgrade for the rest of the month, reducing the number of planes that can take off and land at the airport in rain or fog.
The combination of rain, wind and the suspension of the ILS at Sydney meant more than 40 flights were cancelled on Friday and many more delayed.
Pilots typically do not need the ILS in clear weather, meaning that its absence for the next month should be felt only on rainy days.
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The ILS, a radio navigation tool, is operated by the federal government agency, Airservices Australia.
It is understood airlines and Sydney Airport were annoyed at a lack of notice from Airservices about the upgrade this month, and its potential to disrupt flights.
But a spokesman for the agency, Graham Robinson, said 35 knot winds, low cloud and low visibility on Friday would have created problems for pilots anyway.
"It certainly contributes to some of the delay," Mr Robinson said of the ILS, "but primarily the weather system is creating difficulties for us at the moment."
Mr Robinson denied that there had been little notice of the upgrade which, when finished, will allow more flights to land at Sydney in foggy conditions.
Qantas was forced to cancel four flights into Sydney on Friday and three flights out, and also reported multiple delays.
A spokesman for Virgin Australia said the airline was forced to cancel 17 flights and delay about 20 flights out of Sydney as a result of the poor weather, and the ILS upgrade.
"We also had an outage relating to the baggage belt that's operated by Sydney Airport in Terminal 2," the spokesman said.
A Jetstar spokesman said 17 flights into and out of Sydney were cancelled on Friday.
The Sydney Airport chief executive officer, Kerrie Mather, said in a media release this week that the ILS upgrade would ultimately lead to more reliable flights through Sydney.
“The works have been scheduled for a time of year to minimise the potential for operational disruption, however, until the end of March while the ILS is being upgraded, there may be delays in the event of unseasonably poor weather," Ms Mather said.
They mention upgrades to the ILS. Does this mean CAT II/III is coming to YSSY?