Qantas Reroutes Perth-London Flight Via Singapore Amid Middle East Tensions

Qantas has announced a temporary rerouting of its daily nonstop service from Perth International to London Heathrow. The adjustment, which took effect on August 8, will now see flights making a stopover in Singapore Changi Airport instead of flying directly over parts of the Middle East, due to escalating concerns about potential air strikes in the region.

This precautionary change affects the QF9 flight to London and will remain in place until at least August 22. However, the return flight, QF10, continues on its regular path, as do other Qantas services from Perth to Rome Fiumicino and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

The decision to reroute via Singapore marks the second occasion this year that Qantas has altered this route to avoid the Middle East. This detour, necessitated by safety concerns, extends the journey by approximately four hours. Under normal conditions, the QF9 flight, operated by a Boeing 787-9, is one of the world’s longest nonstop routes. It typically flies northeast from Perth over the Omani coast, across Dubai, and near the Iran/Iraq border before turning towards Turkey and onward to Western Europe and London.

In the days before this change, Qantas had already modified the flight path of QF9 to bypass the Persian Gulf, instead routing over Riyadh and the northern edge of the Red Sea before heading towards Europe. This temporary rerouting ensures passenger safety amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, ch-aviation.com