Qantas flight backlog cleared after WA storm

Thousands of stranded Qantas passengers have finally travelled onward following weather disruptions in Perth.

Travel Insurance News - 08/12/2011

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Perth saw its wettest December day in nearly three decades on Tuesday, as rare lightning thunderstorms created a massive backlog of some 8,000 passengers and piles of luggage at the city’s domestic and international airports.

But a spokeswoman for the Australian flag carrier said midday on Thursday that all passengers were able to board flights by Wednesday night and all have since arrived at their final destinations. She went on to say that schedules were now running normally and that all services have since resumed.

However, Qantas says it is still working on the backlog of baggage that remains in Perth and that delayed bags are gradually getting back onto flights and will be returned to passengers as quickly as possible.

Tuesday’s storm brought around 25.8mm of rain to the arid city in only about eight hours. The severe storms caused little damage to the city but traffic was nearly brought to a halt for hours due to flash flooding on local roadways whilst dozens of planes were stuck on for hours the tarmac at Perth airport. Additionally, power was lost at thousands of homes but was quickly brought back online by the evening hours on Tuesday.

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