'IT Glitch' Causes Chaos At Airports Around Australia, Passport Machines Reportedly Break Down
An IT glitch has caused chaos at Sydney's international airport with Melbourne and Brisbane also affected.
Long queues snaked through the departure gates at on Monday morning, with passport control machines reportedly down.
A spokesperson for the Australian Border Force confirmed to 10daily that the "IT glitch" had affected several airports around the country but was unable to confirm exactly what the issue was.
All systems were back up and running by 11.30am with the backlog cleared a short time later.
Border Force has issued an apology to all travellers affected.
"We appreciate the patience of passengers at this time and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused," the law enforcement agency said in a tweet.
Hours earlier, frustrated passengers took to social media to share images and videos of the lengthy queues.
Some were concerned they wouldn't make their flight at all.
"We are all wondering if 2 hours is early enough," one traveller said.
"I’m in this same line and this is absolutely crazy!" another user responded. "I’ve never seen a line like this in my life!"
The issue appeared to have reached Melbourne and Brisbane as well.
The drama comes after a chaotic weekend, with wild weather forcing hundreds of flight cancellations and delays in Sydney.
A cold front and damaging winds lashed NSW closing all but one runway, leaving thousands of frustrated passengers stranded.
In April, travellers were left stranded due to issues with the ePassport gates.
READ MORE: Chaos At Airports Across Australia Due To Passport Machine Outage
All inbound and outbound passengers had to be processed manually as Border Force worked to resolve the issue.