Australian airline Qantas has been forced to alter certain flights to avoid Iranian airspace after US President Joe Biden warned that an attack from Iran on Israel is expected “sooner rather than later”.
In a press conference on Friday, Biden told reporters that a flare-up in the region was imminent as Iran prepares to make its retaliation to an attack made on its embassy in Damascus a week ago.
An alleged Israeli strike reportedly killed seven Iranian officials in the consulate, which has led Tehran — Iran’s capital — to plan its counterblow.
Biden made a simple statement to Tehran on if it should go ahead with launching the offence: “Don’t.”
“[The US] is devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said.
Qantas reroutes its flights
In an effort to keep passengers safe from the potential attack from Iran, Qantas announced its direct Perth to London flights will be interrupted by a temporary layover in Singapore.
“We’re temporarily adjusting the flight paths for our flights between Perth and London due to the situation in parts of the Middle East,” Qantas said in a statement, confirming it will reach out to the impacted customers.
The returning flight from London to Perth will continue without a stop but will have an altered flight path.
The disruption will continue for the next few days at least, with no timeline clarified by the airline.
The world prepares for more conflict
As well as the changes to Qantas’ flights, countries around the world have also issued warnings to their citizens about traveling in the tension-riddled area.
France, India, Russia, Poland, and the United Kingdom have all urged citizens not to travel to Israel. Germany has requested all its citizens leave Iran immediately.
Whilst this warning has been made consistently over the last seven months of conflict between Israel and Palestine in Gaza, it has now been reiterated due to the potential for escalation.
