Defence ignored airlines’ pleas over Chinese warship live-fire incident

Andrew Tillett, Ayesha de Kretser and Tom McIlroy

Updated Feb 27, 2025 – 10.39pm, first published at 10.14am

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Defence Department officials refused to provide airlines with coordinates of the Chinese flotilla until after live-firing resumed on Saturday despite pleas from the carriers for information that would allow them to pre-emptively avoid flying near the warships.

Industry sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak publicly, revealed the resistance from Defence chiefs on Saturday frustrated both the airlines and the nation’s air traffic controller, Airservices Australia, as they grappled with the safety implications of military drills in the normally tranquil Tasman Sea.

clarification —

The story has been updated to clarify it was Marles’ office rather than the minister personally who contacted Defence at 1.30pm to have the coordinates supplied to the airlines.

Andrew Tillett writes on politics, foreign affairs, defence and security from the Canberra press gallery.

Ayesha de Kretser is a senior reporter with The Australian Financial Review covering the aviation and tourism sectors. She has previously reported on banking, mining and commodity markets.

Tom McIlroy is the Financial Review’s Canberra bureau chief based in the press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously the AFR’s political correspondent.