A shortage of hotel rooms in Launceston has caused the Launceston Airport to issue a plea to its social media followers after a Jetstar flight was unexpectedly cancelled.
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Flight JQ750 was cancelled late on Sunday night after an “engineering issue” pushed its flight time back.
The flight was due to depart Launceston at 8.40pm and arrive in Sydney at 10.15pm.
However, Sydney Airport has a curfew restriction in place that restricts the take off and landing of aircraft between the hours of 11pm and 6am.
Just after 10pm on Sunday, the Launceston Airport used its Facebook page to call on anyone with spare accommodation to get in touch with them.
“Due to a cancelled flight tonight, we’re looking to help passengers and the airline find an extra 20 accommodation rooms. They’ve found 50 so far,” the post said.
Passengers were provided with hotel accommodation where required.
Launceston Airport general manager Paul Hodgen said the responsibility to find emergency accommodation for stranded passengers lay with the operator, in this instance Jetstar.
“We happen to have contacts in that area and are able to assist when required,” he said.
Mr Hodgen said he could remember a similar instance happening once before, which was a direct result of the curfew at Sydney Airport.
Launceston is in the grip of an accommodation shortage, with experts predicting the region may need as many as 592 hotel rooms and 387 specifically for Launceston to meet projected demand.
The city has a number of hotels under construction or in the planning stages, such as the Silo Hotel, which is due to open in another month, the Verge Hotel, the Gorge Hotel and a potential Fragrance Group hotel.
A rescheduled service departed Launceston about 9.40am on Monday with passengers arriving in Sydney just after 11am.
It is unknown how many passengers were affected.