SYDNEY, March 9 (Xinhua) -- A technical problem hit the air hub of Australia's New South Wales state capital on Friday, when flight delays left crowds of international and domestic passengers stranded for hours, according to Sydney airport authorities.

The glitch affected systems including the CCTV video surveillance prior to the opening of Terminal 1 and 2, an airport spokesperson told Xinhua. The interruptions caused processing delays, and passengers and visitors were told early in the morning to avoid the terminals.

All the systems were operating as normal by late morning, the airport said in its Twitter page.

"The safety and security of our passengers is our number one priority and we are pleased to say that all systems are operating as normal. Our priority now is to ensure all passengers are safely on their way," said the spokesperson.

Sydney airport, Australia's busiest air hub, handled 43.3 million passengers in 2017, up 3.6 percent year-on-year. Nearly 16 million of those were international passengers, with those from China being one of the major sources of travellers, according to airport figures.