Qantas has been forced to redirect its non-stop flight between Sydney and Perth due to safety concerns after it was revealed Iran was planning an attack on Israel.
The flight, which usually goes between Perth and London 17.5 hours, will now stop in Singapore so that it can refuel for a different route.
The return flight will continue to operate directly on an alternative path due to prevailing winds.
“We’re temporarily adjusting the flight paths for our flights between Perth and London due to the situation in parts of the Middle East,” a Qantas spokesman is quoted as saying.
“We’ll reach out to customers directly if there’s any change to their booking.”
The changes are expected to last for the foreseeable future.
Since the decision, Iran has launched a drone and missile attack. The attack was in response to a suspected Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria earlier this month which killed several top Iranian officials.
Airspace was closed throughout the Middle East on Saturday as countries in the region braced for an attack from Iran.
Both Israel and Jordan were among the countries that closed the airspace.
Airspace reopened again on Sunday but dozens of flights were cancelled as Iran began firing missiles towards Israel.
Israel’s El Al cancelled more than 20 flights, whilst Emirates cancelled one of its Dubai-Amman flights, Air France and British Airways also cancelled flights to Tel Aviv.
United Airlines which only resumed its service to Tel Aviv early in March following the Hamas attack in October, called off its Newark to Tel Aviv flights on Saturday and Sunday when Israel closed its air space.
Reroutes can be costly and challenging for airlines. Many airlines were forced to reroute flights back when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Iran has warned that a retaliation will be more “severe” should Israel attack it again.
