A Qantas Airlines flight that departed from Perth, Australia, faced an unanticipated journey on Monday night, spending over 15 hours in the air only to return to where it started. Flight QF33 was supposed to make its way to Paris but was diverted due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, resulting in temporary airspace closures.
The flight took off at 7:51 p.m. local time on Monday and was intended to last more than 16 hours. However, the plane had to turn back when it was situated above the Arabian Sea, near southwestern India, before landing back at Perth Airport at 11:04 a.m. on Tuesday. According to FlightAware, which monitors public flight data, this flight was among several disrupted due to heightened military actions involving the U.S., Israel, and Iran in the region.
Qantas issued a statement regarding the flight diversion, attributing the necessity to return to Perth to “additional airspace closures and congestion through the Middle East.” Another flight from the same airline to London was also redirected and landed in Singapore instead.
The airspace closure was precipitated by an attack from Iran on Monday against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a facility operated by the United States. The strike was reported as a retaliation to U.S. airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear sites, further complicating air travel plans for airlines operating in and near the region.
