More flights are set to be delayed as Sydney Airport continues to work around a shortage of air traffic controllers.

Airservices Australia confirmed rostering issues at the country’s busiest airport affected flights departing between 1.30pm and 5pm on Wednesday, with more delays likely.

The news is a major blow to travellers, with many left anxious after three near-misses on the runway at the airport triggered an investigation by the safety bureau.

Airservices Australia was working to minimise delays on Wednesday, but they’d likely continue through the evening, a spokeswoman told the Daily Telegraph.

Qantas alone was preparing for 33 delayed flights on Wednesday, each one put back up to an hour.

It’s understood international flights are being prioritised.

There have been more than 150 delays at Sydney Airport in August, but Airservices Australia said it was introducing measures, like delaying scheduled departure times, to ‘safely manage aviation demand’.

‘Working with airlines and our union partners, we are committed to improving the consistency of our performance,’ the spokeswoman said.

Several flights were delayed at Sydney Airport (above) on Wednesday due to an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers

Three near-collisions at the airport triggered an investigation earlier this month

‘We are building a larger pool of standby air traffic controllers to increase our staffing contingency numbers at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, reduce overtime and deliver stable rosters.

‘Airservices acknowledges and thanks our dedicated controllers for their professionalism and work through this challenging period.’

Last week, following the third near-collision between planes taxiing on the runway, Airservices Australia said in a statement that it was working with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to investigate the recent incidents.

‘Airservices Australia is working with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to investigate recent incidents involving aircraft moving on the ground at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport,’ a spokesperson said.

‘Safety is Airservices’ top priority and we are committed to working with all stakeholders including airlines, ground handlers, regulators and airport operators to keep the travelling public safe.’

Civil Air president Scott Nugent tied the incident to staffing issues, claiming Sydney Airport’s control tower lacked resources.

‘They’re just not putting enough in… we can’t just put people in and expect them to be working the next day,’ he said.

Airservices Australia said it is recruiting more air traffic controllers than ever before and added about 100 controllers in the past 12 months.