Dozens of flights to Byron Bay have been cancelled as Tropical Cyclone Alfred bears down on the Queensland coast.
Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia have cancelled all flights in and out of Ballina Gateway Airport on Wednesday.
Jetstar said flights JQ459 and JQ461 from Sydney and flight JQ465 from Melbourne had been cancelled due to ‘strong winds from the cyclone’.
Three Jetstar flights departing Ballina Gateway Airport will also be cancelled.
Qantas has axed flights QF2062 and QF2063 in and out of Ballina and Virgin Australia has cancelled flights VA1139 and VA1140.
Virgin has also cancelled its service in and out of Ballina on Thursday.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the airlines for comment.
It comes as the Bureau of Meteorology warns Tropical Cyclone Alfred could hit Queensland as a category three system.
Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia have cancelled all flights in and out of Ballina Gateway Airport on Wednesday (pictured, a Jetstar plane)
Jetstar said flights JQ459 and JQ461 from Sydney and flight JQ465 from Melbourne had been cancelled due to ‘strong winds from the cyclone’
The cyclone is forecast to cross between Queensland’s K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) and the Gold Coast on Thursday or Friday as a category one or two system.
Wind gusts of up to 150km/h, intense rain and potential flash-flooding are expected.
‘The possibility of the system reaching a low-end category 3 strength before making landfall cannot be ruled out, but remains a low risk,’ the Bureau said.
It comes after Queensland’s Education Department announced 122 schools from Clarence Valley to Kyogle Shire will close from Wednesday to Friday.
‘We request families do not send your children to school for the next three days. Our school staff will be onsite this morning in case the message is not received in time,’ a department spokesperson told the ABC.
Schools are set to resume operation on Monday, March 10.
As of 5am on Wednesday, Alfred was tracking as a category two system about 465km east of Brisbane and 430km off the Gold Coast.
On Wednesday morning, the Bureau issued an official warning zone stretching 650km from Double Island Point in Queensland to Grafton in northern NSW.
‘We don’t want people in a dangerous situation or vulnerable situation in the coming 48 hours,’ NSW Premier Chris Minns said on Wednesday
The zone includes Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay and Ballina, but does not include Grafton.
In Brisbane alone, 20,000 homes are at risk of flooding, with an additional 6,000 homes at risk on the Gold Coast, local council modelling shows.
The suburbs of Brighton, Windsor, Ashgrove, Morningside, Rocklea, Coopers Plains, Carina, Sandgate, Hemmant, Lota, Tingalpa, Indooroopilly, Albion, Bardon and Wynnum West are most at risk.
Residents of the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast have been warned to prepare for damaging winds, large surf and heavy rainfall, with low-lying areas at risk of coastal erosion.
From Wednesday onwards intense rain is predicted, which could lead to moderate and major flooding in many areas, with the potential to close roads, inundate properties and lead to evacuations.
