Flight chaos has hit Ballina Byron Gateway Airport on the first weekend of Schoolies Week after Jetstar cancelled all of its services due to a global issue involving some Airbus aircraft. 

What began with early morning cancellations to Sydney quickly escalated, with the 14.20 Melbourne flight also cancelled despite earlier advice that it would still operate.

Many travellers only learned of the disruption when they reached the terminal and saw departure screens flipping from “scheduled” to “cancelled”. 

The sudden change caused confusion and long queues as Jetstar staff worked to advise passengers who were already checking in.

With Jetstar’s entire Ballina schedule wiped out, attention turned first to QantasLink. The airline had two afternoon flights to Sydney using Dash 8 turboprop aircraft, which are unaffected by the Airbus recall. Seats on those flights disappeared almost immediately. Travellers standing in the terminal reported grabbing the final places on their phones while still in line.

Once the Dash 8s were full, many passengers scrambled to secure seats on Virgin. Virgin’s Ballina–Sydney flights use Boeing aircraft, which are not affected, and the airline had already added an extra service today because of Schoolies demand. Those seats were quickly snapped up, leaving many families and school leavers stranded.

Airport staff said the cancellations triggered a chaotic morning, with passengers trying to rebook while airlines updated their fleets and schedules.

The disruption follows a global directive from Airbus urging airlines to carry out urgent checks and software updates on certain A320-series aircraft. Airlines cannot operate affected planes until the work is done. Some aircraft can be cleared quickly, but others may require longer inspections.

The timing has been especially difficult for the Northern Rivers, with thousands of young people flying into Byron for Schoolies Week. 

All flights appear to be delayed due to the outage.   Ballina’s standard daily lunchtime  Sydney return flight is running at least half an hour late.