{"id":513597,"date":"2026-03-02T09:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T09:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/513597\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T09:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T09:37:10","slug":"should-you-cancel-your-flight-due-to-the-iran-conflict-heres-what-australian-travellers-need-to-know-australia-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/513597\/","title":{"rendered":"Should you cancel your flight due to the Iran conflict? Here\u2019s what Australian travellers need to know | Australia news"},"content":{"rendered":"

A logistical nightmare has been unfolding for Australian travellers home and abroad since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran<\/a> on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Flights to and from airports in the Middle East have been suspended due to the conflict, including Dubai \u2013 the world\u2019s busiest for international traffic.<\/p>\n

About 115,000 Australians are in the region, with thousands believed to be stuck at affected airports where they were waiting to board connecting flights.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in limbo overseas, or had been planning to travel, here\u2019s what experts advise you to do.<\/p>\n

How does the conflict affect flights from Australia?<\/p>\n

Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates all shut their skies after the strikes began.<\/p>\n

That means any airlines that stop over in the Middle East have been affected \u2013 especially Gulf carriers Qatar, Emirates and Etihad, as they run large volumes of flights to and from Australia.<\/p>\n

Approximately 1.4 million Australians\u00a0pass through the Middle East each year, most of whom are on their way to or from Europe, according to the Australian Travel Industry Association.<\/p>\n

Qantas does not operate any aircraft into middle eastern airports. However, its international partner, Emirates, does. The national carrier on Monday said its flights to London, which go via Singapore or direct from Perth, were unaffected.<\/p>\n

If you book with Qantas to Europe, you\u2019re likely to be boarding an Emirates plane that would normally go through the Middle East, as the two airlines have a codesharing agreement. Emirates has suspended all operations to and from Dubai, where its passengers travelling to or from Australia stop over. Etihad has also suspended all flights in and out of Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

Virgin Australia, which operates flights to Europe via the Middle East through its partner airline, Qatar, cancelled eight services to or from Doha on Sunday.<\/p>\n

My flight\u2019s been cancelled. What should I do, and can I get a refund?<\/p>\n

Etihad says its customers who had flights booked to depart on Monday or Tuesday can request a full refund through the online refund form or via their travel agent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Etihad customers with flights booked between 28 February and 8 March can reschedule with Etihad, departing on or before 18 March for free.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Emirates says its customers who were scheduled to fly between Monday and Thursday this week are entitled to a full refund. They can also rebook on an alternate flight to their intended destination, departing on or before 20 March, although the airline has not confirmed whether or not this will be free.<\/p>\n

Virgin says it is offering free booking changes, or a travel credit or refund, for passengers who are booked on its Doha services this week \u2013 up to and including Friday \u2013 who no longer wish to travel.<\/p>\n

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has advised passengers to contact their airline to understand what their options are.<\/p>\n

Globally, 7,760 flights were cancelled between Saturday and Monday evening, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.<\/p>\n

But the foreign minister, Penny Wong, would not commit to repatriation flights, saying on Monday that \u201cthe fastest way to get people home would be if commercial flights recommence\u201d.<\/p>\n

Should I cancel my trip?<\/p>\n

Jodi Bird, a travel and insurance expert at Choice, says you shouldn\u2019t cancel your flights if you\u2019re not flying this week because you\u2019ll probably make yourself ineligible for a refund.<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, Bird says the lack of legal rights for airline passengers has been an ongoing issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Australian Consumer Law in these circumstances says you\u2019re subject to the terms and conditions of the airline, and it doesn\u2019t really specify what you\u2019re expected to get,\u201d he says. \u201cSo you really are relying on [the] airline.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you have travel plans for after this week and you\u2019re thinking of cancelling your flights, you\u2019re better off waiting for the airline to decide what they\u2019re going to do and for them to contact you, Bird says.<\/p>\n

He says passengers without a flexible ticket will lose their money if they cancel themselves.<\/p>\n

As Guardian Australia reported in June last year,<\/a> when conflict in the region closed airspaces, Australians hoping to avoid flying through the Middle East found they had limited consumer rights<\/a> to move or cancel their own flights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you cancel your flight today, it\u2019s considered a change of mind,\u201d says Dean Long, the Australian Travel Industry Association chief executive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means it falls back onto the fare\u00a0rules, you will have to pay a cancellation fee and you\u2019ll have to pay a fair\u00a0differential if you still want to travel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The consumer watchdog says airlines are required to meet the guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law, but this depends on the circumstances of each particular case.<\/p>\n

If the customer initiates a cancellation, the consumer guarantees are unlikely to apply, an ACCC spokesperson says. This means any remedy consumers are entitled to will depend on the specific terms and conditions of their fare.<\/p>\n

Long says anyone still considering cancelling\u00a0shouldn\u2019t do so without\u00a0getting some \u201cgood advice\u201d.<\/p>\n

What if I have travel insurance?<\/p>\n

Choice isn\u2019t aware of any policies that cover war or military action like that taking place in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

While you should check your individual policy, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says cover for loss or injury arising from war, armed conflict, or civil unrest is generally excluded.<\/p>\n

The ICA chief executive, Andrew Hall, on Monday said the organisation was working closely with Dfat, but it was up to the government to get stranded Australians in the Middle East home.<\/p>\n

He said people reconsidering their trips who have travel insurance but haven\u2019t left Australia yet may be covered under a \u201ccancel for any reason clause\u201d and should contact their insurer.<\/p>\n

Those already overseas are unlikely to be covered, Hall said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A logistical nightmare has been unfolding for Australian travellers home and abroad since the US and Israel launched…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-513597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}