A Jetstar A320 and a Qatar Airways Boeing 777 narrowly avoided colliding on the tarmac at Sydney airport on Sunday, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau was told, it said, as it began an investigation into the incident. The Jetstar plane was taxiing for take off to Queensland state’s Gold Coast when its flight crew saw the Qatar Airways plane, which was being towed by an aircraft tug, very close on a crossing taxiway, the regulator said.

A Jetstar plane has been forced to make an abrupt stop on the tarmac at Sydney Airport after a near miss with another aircraft.

Australia’s busiest airport is set to experience further delays after two planes halted within metres of one another in Sydney.