A number of flights in and out of the Gold Coast have had to be cancelled or diverted after a mechanical issue with a plane forced the runway at Coolangatta to be closed.
A Qantas 737 reportedly suffered a hydraulics issue on Monday night which resulted in an oil leak.
The aircraft was unable to be moved for several hours and was forced to sit at the end of the tarmac, shutting the runway.
“At around 8:30pm last night an aircraft became disabled on the runway at Gold Coast Airport due to a technical issue,” a Gold Coast Airport spokesperson said.
“As a result, 9 flights were impacted. The runway was cleared by approximately 10:30pm last night and operations have resumed this morning.”
Seven flights into the Gold Coast from Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns werediverted to Brisbane, however, two of these later landed at Gold Coast Airport.
Another flight from Melbourne got as far as Wagga Wagga before turning around and heading back to Tullamarine.
Two outbound flights from Gold Coast Airport were cancelled.
Qantas has been contacted for comment
Planes are diverting to Brisbane and Sunshine Coast due to an incident at Gold Coast airport involving a Qantas 737. Unknown reason but the 737 looks to be stationary on the taxiway pic.twitter.com/Zz5aww7eKS
— Mitch Roberts (@MitchMMN) September 18, 2023
