Ben Doherty, a Guardian Australia reporter, is currently on a plane at Sydney airport, waiting to fly to the US. He writes:
US-bound flights out of Sydney in Australia have been held on the tarmac, some for up to three hours. Flights are being gradually cleared for departure after being held in Australia by the FAA out of concern planes would not be able to land once they reached the US.
Our flight has had to take on extra fuel after running the air-conditioning (needed for a plane full of people) for several hours while waiting for clearance.
It’s 13 hours from Sydney to LAX. We’ve been on board for three hours so far, haven’t yet moved, but about to taxi shortly.
It’s not been too bad. We’ve been kept informed by the captain, but the messages have reflected the uncertainty over this incident.
We were delayed, and then boarding was brought forward, reinstated at the original time. We were granted clearance to leave, but then this was rescinded. Even from a distance of 12,000 kilometres, the impacts of this are being felt.
View image in fullscreenPlanes at Sydney international airport in a file shot. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP