A man wearing a dust mask walks across the Sydney Harbour bridge as a dust storm blankets the city Sept. 23, 2009. An outback dust storm swept across eastern Australia and blanketed Sydney on Wednesday, disrupting transport and placing health authorities on alert for widespread respiratory illness. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

　
　    WELLINGTON, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Air New Zealand flights bound for Sydney were forced to turn back to New Zealand on Wednesday due to dust storms and high winds in Australia's New South Wales, the airlines said.

    Clouds of red dust whipped up by storms in the outback blanketed Sydney and large parts of New South Wales in the morning, before spreading to Brisbane and the southern part of Queensland.

    The storm affected about 1,500 travelers to and from New Zealand across three airlines.

A combination of two images of Sydney's iconic Opera House, photographed at 6:15 am (top) and 12:30 pm on September 23, 2009. A huge outback dust storm swept eastern Australia and blanketed Sydney on Wednesday, disrupting transport, forcing people indoors and stripping thousands of tonnes of valuable farmland topsoil. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Air New Zealand said a larger 747 plane carrying about 400 passengers helped to clear the backlog of waiting travelers on Wednesday afternoon.

    Three flights returned to New Zealand in the morning, as they were unable to land due to poor visibility. The three return flights from Sydney were canceled.

    The dust storm also delayed an afternoon service from Christchurch. Pacific Blue said about 300 passengers were affected.

    Jetstar airlines said all its passengers have been able to reach their destination, but with delays of up to three hours.

    Flights of Australian airlines Qantas from New Zealand to Sydney were diverted to Melbourne or Brisbane.

    Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said the dust storm is the worst to hit New South Wales in almost 70 years.

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