Repatriation flights set to take Australians out of Israel today and tomorrow have been cancelled due to “rapidly changing” conditions in the region.
The first of the flights landed in London earlier today but the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Smart Traveller account posted an update on social media tonight, announcing that two subsequent flights have been postponed.
“The situation is highly challenging and rapidly changing. Unfortunately, we have been advised our scheduled flights will not depart Israel today. A further flight will not depart as scheduled tomorrow.”
There was no confirmation about when the next flights would leave.
“The Australian Government is working to ensure Australians who want to leave can do so as soon as possible,” the post on X, formerly known as Twitter continued.
“We will communicate to registered Australians about next available flights.”
Senator Penny Wong further explained the situation on social media, saying: “Departures from Gaza are extremely challenging due to the dangerous security situation.
“850 previously registered Australians and their families have now left Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territories. DFAT is assisting more than 1,500 registered Australians in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Not all of those are looking to leave.”
The repatriation flights were announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on October 8 and would bring Australians home from the Israel-Hamas conflict free of charge.
The first flight out of Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport departed on Friday and landed in London at 9pm local time (7am Saturday AEDT) with 238 Australians and their families on board.
The flight will depart from London for Sydney on Tuesday.
Qantas also confirmed the two further planned flights would not go ahead.
“Qantas has been running constant safety assessments for its planned flights to Tel Aviv in consultation with government agencies,” a spokesperson for Qantas said in a statement.
“Based on latest assessments, the difficult decision has been made not to operate the second flight to Tel Aviv on Sunday due to continued deterioration of conditions on the ground in Israel for safety reasons.”
(9 News)
