Australian flag carrier Qantas is suspending its flagship non-stop flight between Perth and London due to continuing airspace closures and security concerns across the Middle East.
From Wednesday, the airline will reroute the flight via a stopover in Singapore, adding at least three hours to the journey time of the non-stop service.
Qantas has operated its QF-9 service from Perth to London Heathrow since March 2018, although this isn’t the first time that the flight has needed to be rerouted due to security worries in the Gulf.
The flight normally departs Perth at 7:15 pm and routes across the Indian Ocean before reaching a narrow ‘safe’ corridor through the Middle East, tracking over Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain, on its way to London, where it arrives around 17 hours later.
But with widespread airspace closures due to the threat of Iranian ballistic missiles since Saturday, the QF-9 has needed to track much further east, flying over India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan to completely avoid the conflict area.
Despite the long-range capabilities of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that is used on this route, the added distance from rerouting away from the Middle East can’t be achieved without taking a so-called payload restriction.
QF9 change only loaded for Wed so far, but expect additional days added through course of today.
— Analytic Flying (@analyticflying) March 3, 2026
QF33 PER-CDG unchanged for time being. It'll be a lower priority since its payload restriction is smaller and additional crews required for this aren't unlimited.
In other words, Qantas has to limit the number of passengers on board, as well as how much cargo can be loaded, to ensure that the plane has enough fuel to make it all the way to London.
This is exactly what Qantas has been doing since the Israeli-US offensive on Iran began on Saturday, but from Wednesday, the airline plans to reroute the flight via Singapore, thereby lifting the payload restrictions.
Given the fact that there are now tens of thousands of passengers stranded due to continuing flight disruption to airlines based in the Persian Gulf, including the likes of Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways, anything to free up more seats on available flights between Australia and Europe will no doubt be welcomed.
As noted by ‘Analytic Flying’ on X, one of the reasons why it has taken several days for Qantas to suspend the non-stop flight is so that it could position additional crews to Singapore who will operate the onward leg to London.
Qantas was also likely to see just how this situation played out and whether airspace would be reopened after a couple of days. From Wednesday, QF-9 is subject to cancellation, and will be replaced by QF-209, an ad hoc flight number that is used when the non-stop flight can’t be operated.
QF-209 has been used on several occasions over the last couple of years due to security issues in the Middle East and the threat of Iranian ballistic missiles being fired in the region.
Other developments
- Emirates and Etihad Airways restarted operations from their respective hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with a very small number of repatriation flights on Monday afternoon.
- The resumption has not, however, been without issues. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Emirates’ flight restart descended into chaos when Iran launched a salvo of missiles at the UAE.
- Emirates now says that its regular schedule will remain suspended until 11:59 pm on Wednesday at the earliest, although repatriation flights are continuing.
- Qatar Airways has not resumed any operations, and the Doha-based carrier says it will provide a further update on Wednesday morning.
- The US State Department has issued an urgent warning for Americans in the Middle East to flee via commercial means as soon as possible, despite the lack of flight options.
- Some travelers are now resorting to driving for hours across the desert to reach operational airports in Riyadh and Muscat.
