Lightning blasts holes in Brisbane Airport runway, closing it for hours

Runway restored by 11.52pm; no flights cancelled despite 48-minute average delays

By LineZotpaper AI staff

Published27 October 2026

Read Time2 min

Sources2 outlets

Illustration: Lightning blasts holes in Brisbane Airport runway, closing it for hours

A lightning strike blasted holes in Brisbane Airport's western runway on Tuesday afternoon, forcing emergency repairs and closing the runway for more than eight hours. The strike hit about 3.11pm, leaving a scattering of holes, some roughly palm-sized, across a section of bitumen, and the runway was restored and reopened by 11.52pm.

Brisbane Airport spokesperson Peter Doherty said engineers were deployed immediately to assess the damage and carry out repairs. "The lightning hit the centre of the runway, creating damage," Doherty said. "[Engineers] had to cut out the affected areas and re-asphalt them. They spent the evening working on it and had it restored at 11.52pm."

Doherty said lightning was common around the airport, but damage of this kind was rare. "I spoke to the guy who looks after the runway. He's been there 27 years and he hadn't seen something like [what we saw] yesterday," he said.

Despite the strike and broader storm activity causing delays, no flights were cancelled on Tuesday, and the airport was operating as usual on Wednesday. The airport has two runways about two kilometres apart, and the eastern runway kept operating while the western runway was closed. Doherty said the average delay through the afternoon was 48 minutes, with storm activity around.

The runway closure came as severe storms moved through parts of south-east Queensland from about 1pm on Tuesday, with areas of the Gold Coast and Ipswich hit by large hailstones. Other regions received heavy bursts of rain and damaging winds.

Senior meteorologist David Crock, from the Bureau of Meteorology, said the weather station verified damaging winds, which caused some tree damage. "And we had the right conditions for storms to get strong enough for large, or giant hail, which is over five centimetres in diameter," Crock said. The storms lasted until about 5pm.

No storms were expected in Brisbane on Wednesday. Crock said rain was more likely to move through the west of Brisbane, with cooler conditions beyond that. Thursday and Friday were expected to be drier, though rain was likely to return at the weekend.

RSS

The Daily Edition

The front page in your inbox each weekday morning: the lead, the picks, and why each one earned its place.

Analysis

Why This Matters

Traveller impact: flights were delayed by an average of 48 minutes on Tuesday, although none were cancelled and the airport returned to normal operations on Wednesday.
Rare event: the engineer responsible for the runway, with 27 years on the job, had not seen similar lightning damage before, underscoring how unusual the strike was.
Storm season reminder: the damage came as severe storms brought giant hail and damaging winds across south-east Queensland, with more rain forecast for the weekend.

Background

Brisbane Airport has two parallel runways about two kilometres apart, which let the eastern runway keep operating while the western runway was closed for repairs. Lightning is common around the airport, but lightning damage severe enough to require cutting out and re-asphalting sections of the runway is rare. Tuesday's storms were part of a broader severe weather system that moved through parts of south-east Queensland from the early afternoon.

Key Perspectives

Brisbane Airport spokesperson Peter Doherty: says lightning hit the centre of the runway and created damage, engineers had to cut out the affected areas and re-asphalt them, and damage of this kind is rare.
Senior meteorologist David Crock, Bureau of Meteorology: says wind gusts at the weather station verified damaging winds that caused tree damage, and conditions were right for large or giant hail over five centimetres in diameter.

What to Watch

Whether the repaired western runway continues to operate normally after Wednesday's return to business as usual.
The forecast track of rain moving through western Brisbane on Wednesday, followed by drier conditions Thursday and Friday.
Whether further severe storms develop in south-east Queensland over the weekend, when rain is likely to return.

Sources

Lightning blasts holes at Brisbane Airport, runway closed for hours · The Age
Lightning blasts holes at Brisbane Airport, runway closed for hours · The Sydney Morning Herald

Checked

12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.

Show each claim

SupportedA lightning strike blasted holes in a Brisbane Airport runway and closed it for more than eight hours.The Age - Latest News: “A lightning strike blasted holes in a runway at Brisbane Airport on Tuesday afternoon, forcing emergency repairs and closing the runway for more than eight hours.”
SupportedThe strike hit the western runway about 3.11pm, leaving holes, some roughly palm-sized, across a section of bitumen.The Age - Latest News: “Footage shared by the airport shows the strike hit the western runway about 3.11pm, leaving a scattering of holes – some roughly palm-sized – across a section of bitumen.”
SupportedDoherty said, “The lightning hit the centre of the runway, creating damage.”The Age - Latest News: ““The lightning hit the centre of the runway, creating damage,” Doherty said.”
SupportedDoherty said engineers cut out and re-asphalted the affected areas, working through the evening until the runway was restored at 11.52pm.The Age - Latest News: ““[Engineers] had to cut out the affected areas and re-asphalt them. “They spent the evening working on it and had it restored at 11.52pm.””
SupportedThe runway was restored by 11.52pm.The Age - Latest News: “They spent the evening working on it and had it restored at 11.52pm.”
SupportedDoherty said the runway supervisor had worked there for 27 years and had not seen damage like this before.The Age - Latest News: ““I spoke to the guy who looks after the runway. He’s been there 27 years and he hadn’t seen something like [what we saw] yesterday.””
SupportedNo flights were cancelled on Tuesday.The Age - Latest News: “While the strike and broader storm activity caused delays, no flights were cancelled on Tuesday, and the airport was operating as usual on Wednesday.”
SupportedThe average delay through the afternoon was 48 minutes.The Age - Latest News: ““We’ve done some numbers and there was an average 48-minute delay through that period in the afternoon, with storm activity around.”
SupportedThe airport has two runways about two kilometres apart, and the eastern runway continued operating while the other was out of action.The Age - Latest News: ““There are two runways two kilometres apart: one was out of action, the other [eastern runway] kept going through that time,” Doherty said.”
SupportedSevere storms moved through parts of south-east Queensland from about 1pm Tuesday; parts of the Gold Coast and Ipswich had large hail, while other regions had heavy rain and damaging winds.The Age - Latest News: “Severe storms began moving through parts of south-east Queensland from about 1pm on Tuesday, with areas of the Gold Coast and Ipswich hit by large hail stones. Other regions copped heavy bursts of rain and damaging winds.”
SupportedCrock said storms had the conditions to produce large or giant hail, defined as over five centimetres in diameter.The Age - Latest News: ““And we had the right conditions for storms to get strong enough for large, or giant hail, which is over five centimetres in diameter.””
Partly supportedCrock said rain was more likely to move through west Brisbane, with cooler conditions beyond that.The Age - Latest News: ““It’s more likely to be rain moving through the west of Brisbane, and then beyond tomorrow, it will be a bit cooler,” Crock said.”