In short
- Commercial flights bringing Australians home from the Middle East depart with many open seats.
- The open seats are the result of last-minute airline confirmations and passenger concerns about airspace safety.
Flights carrying Australians fleeing the Middle East are arriving with empty seats as late airline confirmations and security concerns prevent some citizens from returning home.
Two more flights have arrived from Dubai and several more are scheduled to depart from the war-torn region as Australians are encouraged to keep their tickets and remain in constant contact with their airlines.
One plane arrived in Sydney on Thursday evening and another in Melbourne on Friday morning, bringing more than 440 Australians home.
A flight from Abu Dhabi landed in Sydney around 9:30 am on Friday morning.
Emirates is expected to operate a further four flights from Dubai over the next 24 hours, while Etihad and Qatar Airways have tentatively scheduled a small number of flights that may not operate due to the airspace closure.
Flights landing in Australia have not always been full as people only get a few hours’ notice from the airlines and some are hesitant to fly due to safety concerns.
The first commercial flight to leave the region for Australia since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran arrived late Wednesday.
Home Secretary Tony Burke said Australia was “really working together” with the United Arab Emirates.
“Our priority is to get Australians safe and back home,” he said.
While the opposition has called for repatriation flights in the region for stranded Australians, Burke said regular flights were the best option.
“The simple reality is that if there are more than 100,000 people in the region who are stranded, a charter flight is not going to do much,” he said.
“You really have to rely on the commercial airlines.”
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien said military aircraft were used at short notice to evacuate Australians from Israel in 2025, New Caledonia in 2024 and Afghanistan in 2021.
Dean Long, chief executive of the Australian Travel Industry Association, said the aviation sector was adapting, with Etihad, Emirates and some Asian airlines operating as normal.
“There will be some delays and some more disruption than what we’re used to, but no one in the travel industry is going to put you in a place where it’s unsafe,” he said.
Australians looking to travel in the coming weeks and months have long been urged not to cancel their flights.
There are 24,000 Australians in the UAE, made up of travelers and residents, while approximately 115,000 are in the wider Middle East.
The federal government has deployed military resources to help stranded Australian citizens and permanent residents.
As a precaution, a Royal Australian Air Force C17A Globemaster heavy transport aircraft and a KC-30A multi-role tanker transport were deployed.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came under fire from the opposition after urging Australians to heed travel advice and take advantage of commercial opportunities to return home.
“The government is failing to respond adequately,” opposition spokesman James Paterson told reporters.
“Every other country of comparable size and citizens charters planes or sends its military aircraft.”
On Thursday, the New Zealand government announced it would send two defense planes to repatriate its citizens.
For the latest news from SBS News, download our app And subscribe to our newsletter.
#Flights #Australia #fleeing #Middle #East #arrive #empty #seats