The question every Australian flying to Europe is asking

There’s a lot of understandable anxiety around travel right now.

As much as some like to think that geopolitics plays no part in travel choices, that’s just not true.

I’ve had many conversations these past couple of weeks about travel and the Middle East, given the Israel-Iran conflict, now the US-Iran conflict, and whether it’s safe to fly there or anywhere near the airspace that’s affected.

Since Middle Eastern hubs are often used by Australian travellers, we have been among the most affected.Credit: iStock

That question is top of mind for Australian travellers about to depart for Europe at a busy time.

Any notion that travellers shouldn’t concern themselves with the politics of the place they are visiting is not reflected in reality. Australians in general are educated and world-wise. And it’s smart to be so.

I’m not talking about the prospect of boycotting destinations, which is another whole issue. I’m thinking about personal safety.

Due to the larger political forces at play, a region can become a tinderbox suddenly, even though tensions have been brewing for decades.

We travellers often feel we have no control over this, and are afraid, rightly, of being caught up in turmoil.

It doesn’t calm nerves that some American airlines have suspended flights to popular travel hubs such as Dubai and Doha, citing safety concerns.

Dubai and Doha have airports that Australians know well and rely upon for connections to Europe. This month, Virgin celebrated its new partnership with Qatar Airways by launching a direct Brisbane-Doha flight.

Smartraveller.gov.au has raised its level of advice for Qatar, advising travellers to exercise a high level of caution due to ongoing hostilities in the region and warning about disruptions.

I was interested to read Julietta Jameson’s story about being caught up in flight delays when the hostilities started a couple of weeks ago.

I have a similar story from last October when Israel attacked Lebanon. I flew out of Athens airport around the time the missiles started flying, although I wasn’t aware of this until I landed in Dubai and wondered why so many flights on the board had been cancelled.

My flight to Sydney was almost empty. That’s when the flight attendant told me that all the connecting flights from Dubai had been grounded. Apparently, as our flight was already in the air, it was equally dangerous to bring it back to the airport, so we were allowed to keep flying.

The flight attendant told me that pilots of the aircraft in the air at the time reported seeing missiles from their cockpits. Never close enough to be truly dangerous, but enough to make them nervous.

I was glad I had an aisle seat. I wonder if other passengers could see the missiles from their windows?

The simmering tensions that airlines and travellers worked around before 2024 have exploded on multiple fronts which might have long-lasting implications, such as longer journeys as planes fly around danger zones including the enduring war in Ukraine.

In September, I’m travelling via Doha. I hope for the world that we will no longer be talking about avoiding missiles then.

I’m looking at this through the lens of the traveller, of course. If you’re one of the millions of unfortunate people on the ground, you have more existential things to think about than your flight getting into Paris two hours late.

Overall, though, international aviation has done an extraordinary job of keeping planes functioning close to schedule over decades of instability in the region. Weather events such as volcanoes have historically caused worse disruptions. (Remember the Eyjafjallajokull eruption in Iceland in 2010?)

Knowing the nuances of world politics can affect our travel choices; it gives us agency in determining our own risk. Some people prefer to remain oblivious and that’s fine. I’m not sure all my micro-worrying about Middle East politics will make much difference to the world or my enjoyment of travel.

In the end, most of us decide to chance it, given the allure of going places and the high level of trust that aviation authorities, airports and airlines will get it right.

But don’t tell me politics has no place in travel.

When we travel we go into the world and its different societies. Maybe we can stay in a bubble, but if we don’t let that world and all its fascinating, infuriating contradictions touch us, then we haven’t travelled at all.

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