Qantas’ direct flights from Perth to London are making an extra stop to refuel in Singapore for at least two weeks, due to escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Qantas flight QF9 normally departs from Perth daily at 6.30pm, arriving the next morning in London Heathrow at 5.05am. But since 8 August 2024, Qantas has been running these flights as QF209 via Singapore.

The replacement flights depart Perth at 2.10pm – more than four hours earlier than normal – and stop in Singapore from 8pm until 9.45pm. The arrival time in London is unchanged and a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is still operating the route.

All passengers on QF209 are required to leave the plane and then re-clear security screening at Singapore’s Changi Airport, where there is also a crew change. However, Qantas is not selling tickets for the standalone Perth-Singapore and Singapore-London sectors. (Both of those routes are already served by other Qantas flights – QF71 and QF1 respectively.)

QF209 does not appear on the departure boards at Changi Airport.

Qantas currently plans to operate its amended QF209 Perth-London schedule until 22 August 2024. But this is subject to change depending on the situation in the Middle East.

Why Qantas has added a stop on its Perth-London route

Adding an extra stop costs Qantas money and adds hours to the travel time between Perth and London. But the refuelling stop is necessary because Qantas has opted to avoid using Iraqi and Iranian airspace while there are tensions in the region. This results in a longer routing. As it’s already such a long flight, QF9 would struggle to make it all the way to London with a full payload without the refuelling stop.

QF9 normally flies over Iraq on its way to London. This is the usual flight path:

Qantas is now using a routing that takes QF209 (and QF1) to the north of Iran:

Singapore was chosen for the stop because it’s not too far out of the way, and Qantas already has a large amount of operations at Changi Airport.

Over the past week, a selection of other international airlines have also started avoiding the airspace over Iran and Iraq, as well as Lebanon and Israel.

This isn’t the first time Qantas has had to re-route its direct Perth-London flights via Singapore due to tensions in the Middle East. The airline did the same thing for a few weeks in April 2024.

Options for Qantas customers

Qantas has released a commercial policy for customers affected by the temporary cancellation of QF9 from Perth to London. Customers are automatically getting rebooked on QF209, but if that’s not suitable Qantas is also offering a credit or refund. They can also choose to rebook onto another flight a day earlier or later at no charge.

Customers with Classic Reward tickets on QF9 must call the Qantas contact centre to change or cancel their booking.

Other Qantas flights to Europe running as scheduled

The return flight, QF10 from London to Perth, is still running non-stop. It can do this because the strong tailwinds when flying eastbound allow for shorter flight times, meaning fuel is less of an issue.

QF33 from Perth to Paris and QF5 from Perth to Rome are also running as normal. These flights are currently detouring to the south of Israel, but are a bit shorter than Perth-London so can still make their destinations with one tank of fuel.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 80 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

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