Severe delays to all Sydney flights

The dust storm that swept across Sydney early on Wednesday morning has caused severe delays to all flights in and out of the city.

The storm blew in from the outback and coated the city in a foggy orange dust, taking most Sydney residents by surprise.

All international flight arrivals were diverted to Brisbane or Melbourne this morning. Qantas aims to operate scheduled international flights throughout today, but with delays.

According to Australia's ABC News, a spokesperson for Sydney airport, Rod Gilmour, said earlier today: "The diverted flights are progressively returning to Sydney. International departures are facing delays of up to six hours as a result of the diversions..."

Updates for those due to fly out to Sydney are available on sydneyairport.com, quantas.com and www.britishairways.com.

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Written by: Maxine Clarke, September 23, 2009