Passengers on a Qantas flight from Perth to Paris found themselves back where they started after 15 hours in the air following sudden airspace closures in the Middle East. Flight QF33 left Australia on Monday night only to return to Perth on Tuesday morning, according to flight tracking data. The plane turned around near the Arabian Sea when airspace closures over the Middle East, stemming from recent attacks involving the US, Israel, and Iran, made it impossible to continue, reports the New York Times. Qantas cited "additional airspace closures and congestion" as the reason for the diversion.
It was one of many global flight disruptions triggered by sudden airspace closures in the region. Airspace temporarily closed over Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, and Bahrain, reports CNBC and Al Jazeera. Another Qantas flight from Perth to London was also diverted, landing in Singapore instead. The disruptions followed Iran's strike on a US base in Qatar, itself a response to American attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.
Australia's foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, warned that global flights could see delays and cancellations as a result of airspace closures around key transit hubs. (Though a ceasefire is now in effect.) Qantas said its Tuesday Perth-to-London flight was operating as planned, but there were no scheduled departures to Paris that day. Passengers, including 216 on the Paris-bound flight and 199 on the London flight, were provided accommodation after unscheduled landings. One traveler described the situation as well-handled by crew, saying, "We'll be OK. We're trying to be positive about it all." (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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