Aussies stranded overseas forced to buy first class tickets to get home

Australians stuck overseas are being kicked off flights in favour of first class passengers who paid for $10,000 seats as the rush to get home worsens.

Desperate Australians stranded overseas who paid thousands for flight tickets home are being bumped off flights as airlines prioritise first-class passengers.

The Australian reports chaos is intensifying at European and Middle Eastern ports as Australians across Europe who are still trying to get home struggle to find plane seats amid strict limits on numbers of incoming arrivals.

The Federal Government has a 4000 a week cap on incoming arrivals, with airlines limiting passengers to as few as 25 a flight.

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Airlines are routinely bumping economy and premium economy passengers in favour of higher-paying passengers so they can remain profitable.

As the backlog builds, that’s being extended to business class passengers — many of whom forked out thousands for their tickets as far back as January — to prioritise first class passengers paying upwards of $10,000 for a seat, according to the report.

There are believed to be about 18,000 Australians stuck in various places around the world who have still struggling to come home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australians stranded overseas are being bumped by airlines in favour of first class passengers.

Stranded expats and travellers in Europe told The Australian they’ve been bumped from flights home multiple times, including within hours of departure, with no offer of alternative flights.

A Brisbane family of four said they’ve been effectively left homeless in London after Qatar Airways kicked them off their flight yesterday, 24 hours before departure, even though the seats they booked months ago were confirmed on Sunday.

Emma Young said she and her husband had already given notice on their London home and had had their furniture picked up by removalists when they got the call from Qatar.

They’re now stuck in London with their two children, aged three and eight months, with no hope for getting home.

“I just don’t know what we will do if we can’t get on the flight, we are out of the house as of lunchtime and have booked a hotel room for tonight, but then what do we do?’’ Mrs Young said.

“If Qatar had told us earlier we could have made arrangements, but we have been abandoned.”

Another distressed couple with business class bookings have been told one of them has been confirmed while the other has been bumped.

Many Australians are still struggling to leave Europe via ports such as Doha and Dubai (pictured). Picture: Karim Sahib / AFP

Some business class passengers told The Australian they’ve been advised by airlines the earliest availability for another flight is around Christmas, while economy passengers are unlikely to make it back home this year.

Making matters worse is that airlines won’t offer compensation to these passengers as the situation is due to Federal Government restrictions.

In a statement on Friday, Qatar Airways said under the current government caps, it could only fly a maximum of 50 passengers to Sydney, 45 to Perth, 25 to Brisbane and 60 to Adelaide each day, while Melbourne remains closed to all inbound passengers.

It said due to the “continuous change in restrictions announced in Australia from time to time”, passengers faced a “cascading effect” that’s left some people having tickets rebooked.

“Qatar Airways analyses each flight based on a range of criteria, including compassionate and medical requirements, connecting flights, booking class, party size and commercial value. In order to ensure the continued viability of our operations to Australia commercial value of tickets sold must also be taken into consideration to be able to operate each flight,” it said.

“However, each passenger’s case is treated on an individual basis regardless of what cabin class they have booked. We have been assisting many passengers with emergency/compassionate issues as first priority to help them get on a flight home to Australia as soon as possible.

“We continue to work closely with all our passengers to find alternative flights if they are unable to travel on their original intended flight. The airline also recently resumed flights to Adelaide, one of the five Australian cities now served, further supporting repatriation efforts.”

Qatar said it had brought more than 180,000 Australians and international travellers home since the early stages of the pandemic, which was “more than any other airline”.

Qatar Airways said it was working within Federal Government restrictions.

PM ‘UNAWARE’ OF REPATRIATION REPORTS

It comes as Nine newspapers reveal the Federal Government is working on a new rescue plan for Australians stuck overseas who risk being deported, however Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he is unaware of the source of those reports.

Nine newspapers report at least three government departments are designing a plan that could mean Australians at risk of deportation being evacuated and placed in quarantine facilities in remote areas of Australia.

The evacuation plan would alleviate state government concerns the capital cities may not be able to accommodate more returned travellers if the current cap is lifted.

However, when Mr Morrison was asked on Today this morning if he was aware of the reports, he said he was not.

“No. I’m unaware of the source of those reports,” the PM said.

“The Commonwealth government on many occasions prepares a lot of contingencies for emergency situations.

“You’ll recall when we did the Wuhan flights early we did quarantining in Howard Springs on Christmas Island, they were one-off cases.

“In other cases we have brought chartered flights back into Australia and they have gone through the normal hotel quarantine.

“But we don’t want to put too much stress on that hotel quarantine.”

According to the Nine newspapers, it is not clear whether the plan would involve existing commercial airline routes or special chartered flights, but it’s believed the quarantine facilities are being considered in remote locations in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

A separate multimillion-dollar fund will also be set up to offer financial support to Australians overseas who cannot get home and running out of funds, according to the news report.