Airlines remain on alert for safety threats as flights to Middle East and Europe resume
Qantas is among dozens of airlines reworking schedules after the closure and reopening of Qatari airspace with passengers assured ‘safety is their top priority’.
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Qantas is expecting flights to Rome and London to go ahead as planned on Tuesday night and Wednesday after turning around a Perth-Paris flight and diverting Perth-London to Singapore in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The route changes came after Qatar closed its airspace in response to an Iranian attack on a US military base, resulting in widespread flight delays, diversions and cancellations.
Qantas was already avoiding Iranian airspace but the Qatari airspace closure added too much distance to its already long 16 hour plus flights.
Virgin Australia also diverted two of its Qatar Airways-operated flights to Doha, sending one to Bengaluru in India and another to Muscat.
A passenger on the Brisbane-Doha flight said they spent seven hours on the ground in Muscat before heading to Doha, where they were held on the tarmac for several more hours.
“We’ve now been on this plane for over 24 hours. The crew are crying, babies are screaming, people are getting angry,” said the passenger who asked not to be named.
“Communication has been awful. We’re just figuring things out ourselves. We have Wi-Fi now, but for the seven hours (in Muscat) we had nothing and no updates from captain or crew.”
It’s understood the decision to prevent disembarkation was taken due to the demand on service desk staff in Hamad International Airport, of which there were only two.
Virgin only launched the services in the past fortnight as part of a deeper partnership with Qatar Airways, which has bought a 25 per cent stake in the Australian carrier.
Qatari airspace reopened within hours of the closure, and flights were operating in and out of Doha, but Qatar Airways warned passengers to expect significant delays.
Passenger backlog
A number of other Qatar flights from Australia were cancelled on Tuesday, including one from Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney.
A Virgin Australia spokeswoman said services with a VA flight number were expected to operate but only for guests travelling to Doha, and not onto other destinations.
“With over 25,000 impacted passengers currently in Doha, the immediate priority is clearing the significant backlog of those passengers and flying them to their final destination,” the spokeswoman said.
Emirates also resumed operations out of Dubai after days of disruption and Qantas said it would contact passengers if flight schedules change.
“We have a number of flight paths that we utilise for our flights to Europe, and we proactively alter these where required based on factors including weather and security,” said a statement on the Qantas website.
There was no Perth-Paris flight scheduled for Tuesday evening, after Monday’s service was turned back after reaching Indian airspace.
“We continue to monitor airspace availability closely and will alter our schedule as required,” said a Qantas spokesman.
“We thank our customers for their patience and understanding.”
A statement from Qatar Airways said additional ground staff had been deployed at Hamad International Airport and other key airports “to assist affected passengers by minimising disruptions”.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is the first and highest priority at all times,” said the statement.
Check flight status
On Tuesday, Emirates was urging passengers to check their flight status but said the airline would continue to operate flights as scheduled “using flight paths well distanced from conflict areas”.
“Some flights may incur delays due to longer re‑routings or airspace congestion, but Emirates’ teams are working hard to keep to schedule and minimise any disruption or inconvenience to our customers,” said the statement.
Singapore Airlines has cancelled two flights a day into Dubai until at least Thursday, and United Airlines has warned passengers that flights to and from Dubai scheduled between June 18 and July 3 may be affected.
United is offering no-fee ticket changes under certain conditions due to Middle East unrest.
The US airline has implemented the same flexibility for Tel Aviv flights between June 13 and August 1, allowing customers to rebook for other major European cities.
Air Canada has temporarily suspended its daily non-stop service from Toronto to Dubai and warned the suspension could be extended.
Travel via a European stopover on a partner airline remains possible, according to its website.
American Airlines is allowing customers to change their bookings to Doha without fees for travel originally scheduled between June 19 and July 20.
Lufthansa and its partners including Swiss and Austrian Air have suspended all flights to the Middle East until at least June 30.
Air France has halted flights to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and axed Paris-Tel Aviv until July 14.
With wires
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