The Albanese government and airlines are warning passengers in Australia of flight delays and disruptions after Iran’s strike on a US base in Qatar resulted in several countries closing their airspace.
In a post to X on Tuesday morning, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said there had been “disruptions to flights with temporary airspace closures in the region”.
“Closure of airspace around transit hubs may impact flights globally, causing delays and cancellations,” she said.
“Australians travelling should seek updates from their airlines and follow SmartTraveller.”
The transport minister, Catherine King, said the government had been “engaging with Australian airlines” and was monitoring the situation closely.
In a statement, Qantas said it had rerouted two flights – one bound for the UK and one headed to Europe – with the latter en route back to Australia.
“Due to airspace closures and congestion through the Middle East resulting in air traffic restrictions, QF9 (Perth-London) has been diverted to Singapore and QF33 (Perth-Paris) is returning to Perth,” the statement said.
“We continue to monitor airspace availability closely and will alter our schedule as required. We thank our customers for their patience and understanding.”
Virgin Australia was warning passengers it had diverted flights VA1 and VA15, operated by Qatar Airways for Virgin Australia, after Qatar’s airspace temporarily closed.
Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority has reopened the country’s airspace, however, with the agency posting to X that things would return to “normal” after taking “necessary measures in coordination with relevant authorities”, according to a translation.
“The Authority commends the great cooperation shown by all partners and the efforts of all state entities to ensure the safety and security of aviation in Qatari airspace.”
Singapore Airlines said some flights had been cancelled and it would be contacting all affected passengers. It also warned more flights could be affected as the situation remained fluid.
But some passengers were electing to disembark flights rather than continue their travel plans, including at Melbourne airport, according to the ABC.
The airport warned passengers on Tuesday morning there may be delays or disruptions to service “if you’re due to travel through the Middle East today”.
“Please check with your airline for any updates to your flight departure time,” the airline posted on X.
