Disruptions to Flights at Newcastle Airport

Newcastle Airport experienced disruptions to flights from Friday 3 March 2023, which has been explained by RAAF Base Williamtown is due to the discovery of a section of uneven asphalt linked to major runway works being carried out by the Department of Defence.

The issue was identified on Friday after a section of runway was opened again to air traffic. Specialist crews and plant were mobilised to carryout repairs but overnight efforts to smooth out the depression were not fully successful.

The situation resulted in some commercial jet aircraft not being used to service Newcastle Airport. Mid-sized and smaller commercial turboprop aircraft used by the airlines and smaller carriers were not affected by the runway’s condition.

On Saturday 4 March, 2 out of 13 flights arriving and 3 out of 15 flights departing, were unfortunately cancelled. Today, Sunday 5 March, there have been no cancellations due to the runway issue from a total of 36 flights (arrivals and departures).  

The safety of our passengers and operators is our highest priority and we continue to work closely with RAAF Base Williamtown and our airline partners to minimise any impact to passengers.

The RAAF continues to be proactive in communicating with us to ensure minimum disruption and today has advised that additional personnel and plant are being mobilised to carry out further works to remedy the issue and restore normal traffic flows as soon as possible. 

It is expected that normal operations will resume by 6:00am on Monday 6 March 2023.

“Delays and cancellations are never pleasant. We sincerely hope all our passengers got to where they wanted to be for the weekend.  I want to thank our community for their continued support and choosing to fly through their airport,” says Newcastle Airport CEO Dr Peter Cock.  

“For further information about flights, we recommend passengers contact their airlines directly.”