Passengers flying through Sydney Airport have been warned of possible flight disruptions on Friday afternoon due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.

The controller shortages have led Airservices Australia – the government body which is charged with management of airspace – to implement a departure limit to space them four minutes between each other between 10am and 11pm on Friday.

Additionally, a blanket ban on departures will be in place between 3:30pm and 4pm, this masthead understands.

Arrivals will not be affected, it is understood. It was not clear how significant the impact of the departure limits would be. Virgin Australia did not have a flight scheduled to depart during the 3:30pm-4pm window.

The limit on aircraft movements at the airport, which ordinarily has a cap of 80

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