Anthony Albanese says flights organised to get Australians out of Israel

Australian government-assisted flights out of Israel will be available from Friday.

Anthony Albanese has announced that Australian government-assisted flights out of Ben Gurion airport will be available from Friday.

“My government will assist and will begin the assisted departure of Australians who want to leave Israel. We understand that many Australians are experiencing difficulties with delays and cancellations with commercial flights,” the Prime Minister said in a press conference in Melbourne.

“For Australians who do not already have plans to leave through commercial options, Australian government assisted departure flights will depart from Friday.”

“I want to thank Qantas for making their facility available for flight to travel from Ben Gurion Airport to London. There will be two flights organised already. Australians who want to leave Israel on our assisted departure flights must register with the Australian government’s 24-hour consular emergency centre.”

It’s understood Qantas reached out to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Tuesday, offering to assist, but a formal request for help was since issued.

Although Virgin Australia does not operate long haul flights with its fleet of Boeing 737s, the airline was looking at how it could also lend a hand.

An estimated 12,000 Australians and dual nationals are believed to be in Israel which is under attack from Hamas.

A statement from Qantas confirmed two flights would be operated, mostly likely by a Boeing 787 which has 236 seats.

Details of the flights were being finalised but it was expected they would fly from Australia to Tel Aviv and on to London in coming days.

Operational costs would be absorbed by Qantas, the statement said.

“Arrangements for onward flights for those wanting to travel back to Australia are still being worked through,” said the statement.

“Australians who want to leave Israel via Australia’s assisted-departure flights should register at Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Smartraveller website. If you have already registered with DFAT you do not need to register again.”

Qantas warned that the “sudden nature of the rescue flights would mean disruption for some customers on the airline’s international network, who would be contacted directly.

“We’re working to minimise the impact as much as possible and appreciate their understanding.”

Plans to help Australians in Israel began to unfold on Monday, when Foreign Minister Penny Wong directed DFAT to start contingency planning for assisted departure flights.

Transport Minister Catherine King then contacted the chief executives of both Qantas and Virgin Australia to convey the sense of urgency and work with DFAT on those flights.

Senator Wong was also urging Australians in Israel who wanted to leave to register with DFAT, so flights can be planned.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil told Sky News protecting Australians in Israel was “one of the really urgent priorities” of the Albanese government.

“And I would say to Australians watching right now if you have any relatives in Israel, and you want to come home and they would want to return to Australia, make sure they have registered with the embassy in Israel and the Australian government is working at the moment through the logistics of how to assure the safe return of Australians,” she said.