Australia’s Qantas Redirects Perth-London Flights To Avoid Iran

(CTN News) – In response to rising tensions in the Middle East, Australia’s Qantas airline announced on Saturday that it was rerouting its long-haul flights between Perth and London as a precaution to avoid flying over Iranian airspace in response to the crisis.

The AFP news agency reported that a Qantas spokesperson told the news agency that the airline will temporarily alter its flight paths as a result of the “situation in parts of the Middle East”.

As per the spokesperson, if any changes are made to the bookings of the customers, the company will communicate directly with them and they will be given the opportunity to amend their bookings.

Perth-London is normally a non-stop flight which takes 17 and a half hours to complete. However, in order to carry a full load of passengers on a different route, the Perth-London flight will make a stop in Singapore in order to refuel.

Despite the prevailing winds, the return flight from London to Perth will continue to fly non-stop on a route that has been readjusted due to the prevailing winds.

It should be noted that these Qantas  flights are not the only ones affected; there are no other flights affected as well.

Among other airlines including Qantas Lufthansa and its subsidiary Austrian Airlines, Qantas has also agreed to redirect its flights to avoid Iranian airspace as part of the effort to avoid Iranian air space.

The move comes on the heels of Iran’s blaming of Israel for a missile strike in Syria this month that killed two generals from the Iranian army, and threatening retaliation against Israel.

During the Qantas beginning of October, Israel began bombing targets in Syria that have links to Iran. Since that time, Israel has intensified its strikes against Iranian targets in Syria.

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