Bed bugs reported throughout long-haul flight operated by main airline as passengers left stranded
Passengers reported bug bites on a Qantas flight and the aircraft has now been taken out of service for a deep clean and fumigation, leaving passengers stranded for days
The flight was operated by Qantas(Image: Getty)
Travellers were left stuck for days after a flight run by Australian carrier Qantas was grounded following a bed bug infestation. Passengers aboard flight QF5 from Perth to Rome on October 9 reported being bitten by the insects during the journey.
They received antihistamine treatment on medical guidance, but the aircraft allegedly exhausted its supply of the medication. Bed bugs are tiny insects that survive on human blood and their bites can trigger itching and inflammation. They are not recognised as carriers of disease.
The pests can travel via clothes, furnishings and personal items and prove challenging to eliminate. Swift heating and freezing methods, combined with chemical solutions and fumigation, are required to tackle them.
Bed bugs were reported on board the flight(Image: Getty)
Qantas isn’t the first airline to encounter a bed bug crisis, reports the Express.
Back in 2017, bed bugs were discovered on a British Airways service from Vancouver to London while in 2024, travellers on a Turkish Airways journey from Johannesburg to Istanbul raised concerns about a bed bug outbreak.
Qantas was compelled to axe the return service on Saturday. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been withdrawn from operation for thorough cleaning and fumigation.
Qantas confirmed that those impacted received hotel accommodation and were transferred to alternative services within 48 hours of their scheduled departure.
The return flight scheduled for Saturday was cancelled(Image: Getty)
“We sincerely apologise to customers for the cancellation of Saturday’s Rome to Perth service, which allowed our engineers and maintenance teams to carry out a deep clean of the aircraft after an issue was identified on a small number of economy seats,” a spokesperson for the carrier said.
The Perth-to-Rome route proves hugely popular as a non-stop service for the airline. The carrier has stretched the seasonal service until late October by introducing 40 additional flights and nearly 10,000 extra seats.
