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Major Sydney airport delays as power outage grounds flights

Flights in and out of Sydney Airport have been grounded by a power outage at airport traffic control causing "significant delays" across the country.

The systems went down just after 5am on Monday and all domestic flights with airlines including Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetstar have been delayed until further notice.

Hundreds of passengers have been affected by the "technical issue" and it comes on the first day of the NSW schools holidays.

Travellers have been urged to check their flights before heading to the airport with a power outage causing delays. Photo: 7 News
Travellers have been urged to check their flights before heading to the airport with a power outage causing delays. Photo: 7 News

"At this stage we do have a confirmed technical issue at Sydney which we are trying to rectify. We are also managing flights safely," Air Services Australia spokeswoman Sarah Fulton told AAP.

The Sydney flights suspension will have major knock-on effects for the whole country.

Both Melbourne and Brisbane airport have also informed travellers of likely delays.

Some arrivals have managed to land, but flights from Melbourne have not boarded. Photo: 7 News
Some arrivals have managed to land, but flights from Melbourne have not boarded. Photo: 7 News
The outage comes on the first day of NSW school holidays. Photo: Getty
The outage comes on the first day of NSW school holidays. Photo: Getty

Virgin Australia domestic flights out of Sydney airport have been grounded.

"All flights at Sydney Airport are currently grounded until further notice due to an Air Traffic Control issue," a Virgin spokeswoman said.

The airline said it would try to get all of its passengers on their way as quickly at it can.

"We will be contacting those guests who may be impacted but we encourage all guests to check the flight status page," the spokeswoman said.

Qantas also confirmed the issue was causing delays for passengers.

"Due to an air traffic control system issue, there are significant delays at Sydney Airport affecting all airlines," a Qantas spokesman said.