Middle East Airspace Diversions/Cancellations

[LondonAussie]

I am flying with QR but on Apr 2 and returning Apr 17. Have to look at my options but might hold off for a week or so..?

I’m meant to be flying London to Singapore on a BA reward on 2 April and then have a separate QF reward from SIN to MEL. Similar nested bookings for my return.

I’m starting to get a little nervous if those reward seats will hold, if ME airline capacity is still constrained over the high demand Easter period, or if things escalate further.

So far it looks like things are trending in the right direction and that April will be back to relative normality, but you can’t help but worry when your travel insurance premium becomes a donation in these circumstances

 

[Oubline]

I’m meant to be flying London to Singapore on a BA reward on 2 April and then have a separate QF reward from SIN to MEL. Similar nested bookings for my return.

I’m starting to get a little nervous if those reward seats will hold, if ME airline capacity is still constrained over the high demand Easter period, or if things escalate further.

So far it looks like things are trending in the right direction and that April will be back to relative normality, but you can’t help but worry when your travel insurance premium becomes a donation in these circumstances

I understand, but I'm not sure that either BA or QF would cancel your booking just because it's a reward booking. And the flights themselves would seem more likely than ever to be operating if other routes are constrained.

I say this out of some self-interest as I'm flying on MH to Europe via KUL over Easter as well on a reward booking.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I understand, but I'm not sure that either BA or QF would cancel your booking just because it's a reward booking. And the flights themselves would seem more likely than ever to be operating if other routes are constrained.

I say this out of some self-interest as I'm flying on MH to Europe via KUL over Easter as well on a reward booking.

All seats are subject to overbooking

However the seat out of London for the OP is covered by UK261, so either unlikely to happen, or relevant compensation. The QF flight is a little more tricky if the inbound to SIN is missed.

 

[moa999]

Headline on SMH saying Australians to be bussed out of Qatar

 

[jase05]

Headline on SMH saying Australians to be bussed out of Qatar

It’s a fair hime on a bus.
QR are looking to bus people to RUH or MCT, that would be a good 8-10hrs I’d think.

 

[justinbrett]

Remember the ‘thinking’ that it’ll take a long time for flights to resume? The war is not even over and Emirates are resuming.

The "-ing" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence!

 

[Overtabe99]

I have a flight booked with Qatar to LHR via DOH in May. Even though it’s a little while away, still a little concerned if the situation continues.

I rang VA as booked thru them and they advised they will waive any cancellation costs. They also looked at alternative flights with SA but all booked up.

Not sure if I should sit tight or just cancel and rebook. Had a look on SA website and they do have flights for about $300 more, MEL-SIN-LHR.

Would prefer to fly with QA or another VA codeshare airline so can earn points & SCs as will need this year to maintain gold status.

I don’t have option of changing dates as had various engagements booked in UK.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Quickstatus]

Would prefer to fly with QA or another VA codeshare airline so can earn points & SCs as will need this year to maintain gold status.

It depends on your priorities. Sometimes 2 priorities which in isolation might be desirable, together and in the current context, might be mutually exclusive.... "so called you can't have the cake and eat it too"

I think you have to decide which is more important

 

[Overtabe99]

It depends on your priorities. Sometimes 2 priorities which in isolation might be desirable, together and in the current context, might be mutually exclusive.... "so called you can't have the cake and eat it too"

I think you have to decide which is more important

Thanks. I have no issues in paying 2 x $300 for a different airline. I’m more not sure if I should wait in case flights do resume or just pull the trigger now and take the hit.

 

[transpactraveller]

If this is still going in May, I think we'll have bigger problems to worry about.

 

[stu961]

I have no doubt that the ME3 will resume their full capacity after the Iranian thing has blown over. Might take a month or two but then again it may be like Covid, where there was such a surge of pent up demand of people who couldn’t fly because of the war that they might actually be at capacity almost immediately.

Besides the actual demand, as now, you can be sure the Airlines will be going all out to recover their market share such as pricing. Anyone who thinks those airlines are just going to stay down and take it staying down is simply fooling themselves, or wishful thinking.

Remember the ‘thinking’ that it’ll take a long time for flights to resume? The war is not even over and Emirates are resuming.

and if I was going to back the "deep pockets" to recover market share it's sure the ME3!!

 

[Quickstatus]

I’m more not sure if I should wait in case flights do resume or just pull the trigger now and take the hit.

As you can see from other comments, the fog of war never provides any certainty.

In my view, if you want greater certainty, then just get flights that bypass the ME hubs. You don't know when that door closes

 

[LionKing]

Havnt seen this mentioned before but apparently every commercial flight in the UAE is being accompanied by a fighter jet,

Gulf nations pessimistic about what Trump will leave behind

While the cabaret of outlandish and contradictory statements and claims continues in Washington, there is considerable pragmatic pessimism in the Gulf about the mess Donald Trump will leave behind.

www.abc.net.au

Yes I saw it from a reel posted by someone on Facebook.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

 

[prozac]

Yes I saw it from a reel posted by someone on Facebook.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

I'd never trust a thing that journalist writes.

 

[lovestotravel]

I'd never trust a thing that journalist writes.

Yep total rubbish IMO

 

[elanshin]

Thank you - that’s a bit better than she was told -after more than an hour on the phone but still not great
And yes @elanshin thats exactly what I’m looking at. My run of failure on getting award seats released on QF continues although I guess 3 seats is a big ask, even if they are in Y. So now we are looking at replacing fares that were $2200 per person with ones that are well over $3,000 per person. And maybe more as we need to get ones we could cancel in the unlikely event the Virgin flights actually operate.

Thanks for the fast replies either way helpful info. I’m over stressed at the moment and not thinking straight.

Other routes you could look at involve CX from HKG to JNB
Air China from SZX - JNB
SQ from SIN -JNB

Air Mauritius connects from BLR, KUL, PER, DEL, BOM to MRU which you can then fly to CPT.

ET flies from ADD to SIN, BKK, PVG, HKG, ICN, PEK

Those come off as reasonable 1-2 stop options (not sure about their prices though).

 

[LionKing]

It appears to me at this stage fares are surging for sectors between East and SE Asia and Europe only, and East and SE Asia to Australia/NZ remains largely unaffected.

You can see if HKers need to go home in the UK tomorrow, you need to fork up A$4600+ for a one way ticket, and it is ECONOMY class!


I feel like unless you need to travel to Europe urgently, sit out for lower fares and stable conditions, or try to make multiple stops as others pointed out.

 

[Harrison_133]

Yes I saw it from a reel posted by someone on Facebook.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

That's definitely not a commercial passenger aircraft. Looks more like a KC-46A.

 

[justinbrett]

and if I was going to back the "deep pockets" to recover market share it's sure the ME3!!

it’s not so much about money - all three have essentially unlimited financial backing by their respective governments - but money isn’t everything, customer preference is really important.

Of the three, Abu Dhabi (Etihad) is by far the richest, yet their airline has struggled in recent times with a big decline in Australian services. EK has lot of market share to QR - and all will likely lose some to Riyadh air. Asian/European/Australian carriers will gain some out of this crisis. Money isn’t everything.

 

[Ricicles]

This feels like a minor question in the scheme of everyone’s else’s more serious dramas so forgive me and I’m thinking of everyone who is still stranded in particular, and hope you get out soon, but I am flying with family as a group of 4 on QF9 (on 3 separate bookings but I have linked them) from Melbourne to London via Perth on 26th March. I see that QF9 has been replaced with QF209 (Perth London via Sing) but now leaves Perth at 3.50pm. Currently our domestic flights don’t land until 4.15pm. Will Qantas rebook these flights automatically or am i better to call the vip line and get them changed myself? Or are there any better options I should explore - we are 2x business and 2x PE. I am P1 and husband is WP. Many thanks