Coronavirus: DFAT glitch leaves vulnerable in queue

Australians stuck overseas will be waiting a little longer after dozens used a secret code to book a spot on a government flight.

Passengers walk past a Qantas jet at the International terminal at Sydney Airport. Picture: Getty Images

Vulnerable Australians wanting to return from the UK will be waiting a little longer after a government bungle revealed a secret code that allowed other travellers to jump the queue on a government-facilitated flight before it had been announced.

Almost half a million Australians have returned home since the government recommended repatriating in the early months of the pandemic. But thousands still remain abroad, having to fork out thousands of dollars for overpriced flights, expensive hotel quarantine programs and limited seats as they struggle to get home.

On February 4, an Australian who had been assisted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade discovered a department booking portal for a government-facilitated flight on February 22 which had not been announced. After successfully booking the flight, they shared a post in a Facebook group for Australians looking to return home which subsequently allowed what is believed to be dozens of people to book the flight.

A departures board at Heathrow Airport shows a Qantas flight from London to Darwin. Picture: Annabel Moeller

The DFAT glitch allowed for those not deemed “vulnerable” by the Australian government to book flights ahead of those who may not be able to financially support themselves, face immigration issues and require medical care including pregnant women.

A DFAT spokesperson confirmed the glitch.

“A number of Australians were able to book on the 22 February flight from London due to a technical error during the testing of an internet URL,” they said.

“Some of those who booked have since cancelled.”

The Australian understands the portal, which was meant to be private, was accessed after a recipient forwarded an email with a link to the website and the code “skippy21”.

Conor Hickey, an Australian in the UK who will return on February 22, said that Aussies overseas experienced an anomaly with those codes.

“I think the code only expires after the date of the flight, when the flight falls off the list. The code is definitely usable for more than 1 day,” he said.

“I’ve heard of people getting flights a day or two after the flights appeared to be already sold out. They’d have used the sneaky code.”

Hickey said DFAT’s handling of flights was poor.

“I also know that flights are badly managed all the time by DFAT and there are no seats left by the time the department send out up to 40,000 emails for a flight with a max 150 seats that are mostly sold already.”

Police watch as Qantas flight lands in Canberra, ACT. Picture: Getty Images

It is understood that B787-9 aircraft are being used for government-facilitated flights with a capacity decided by DFAT and determined on hotel quarantine capacity.

Some Australians have forgone government assistance in light of commercial flights which they say is a faster alternative.

A Qantas spokesperson confirmed that four flights had become available last week from London and Frankfurt.

“These seats were all sold to eligible Australians registered with DFAT,” they said.

“Tickets on all Qantas repatriation flights are only available to Australian citizens and their families who are registered with DFAT for repatriation.”

DFAT said it helped 40,000 Australians return on over 500 flights, 14,000 of which returned on Government-facilitated flights with Qantas. About 1390 Australians have returned on government-facilitated flights since October last year.

“Other passengers identified by DFAT as vulnerable and their families have been offered a seat on the flight in addition to those who previously booked a seat,” a DFAT spokesperson said.

At least 5800 Australians who have registered with DFAT to return to Australian remain in the UK.