Travel plans in chaos after Iranian missile strikes spark flight diversions
Australian travellers have been caught up in the global aviation chaos caused by Iranian missile strikes, as airspace closures over the world's busiest airports triggered cascading disruptions, diversions and missed connections.
Footage circulated on social media showing the terminal floors in airports such as Doha becoming makeshift campsites, with stranded travellers sleeping anywhere they could, as overwhelmed airport and airline staff struggled to rebook the thousands of passengers who had been displaced.
Despite airspace reopening roughly four hours after the attacks on US military bases, which forced authorities in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to halt all air traffic over their skies, many passengers remained unclear as to their onward journeys.
Several Qantas flights, including ultra-long haul flights from Perth to European cities whose routes are carefully planned, were also forced to turn back to Perth or divert to Singapore, throwing the plans of hundreds of passengers into disarray.
However, Australians who had tickets transiting through Qatar and the UAE were among the most affected, even hours after airspace reopened.
Madeline Wilcox was on a Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne to Doha, where she was set to transit through on her way to Rome, as part of a more than month long European holiday.
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About an hour and a half before landing in Doha, Wilcox was alarmed when she woke to an announcement that Iranian missile fire had closed Qatari airspace and that her plane was being diverted.
Initially, passengers were told they would land in Mumbai, but amid the chaos of air traffic controllers having to accommodate dozens of midair flights, Wilcox's aircraft ultimately landed in the Indian city of Goa.
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