As the government lifts its controversial travel ban on flights from India this weekend, it is worth noting the Australians stranded in other countries still clamouring to get home.
But, in the case of those in the UK, are they?
It seems that Qantas is currently struggling to fill seats on government-facilitated flights from London to Darwin. An Australian citizen living in London who had finally booked a flight in mid-May received an email from Qantas detailing the low numbers.
“Please note due to the lack of sales across the flights scheduled from London for mid-May, we are merging the flights on both 12 and 15 May with the flight departing London on 16 May to Darwin,” the email read.
A few days later a follow-up email noted that there were still seats available for sale on the May 16 flight, despite being one of the only options at normal commercial airfare rates. Even then the prices are still high at $2000 one way but considerably less than the $15,000 or more that some other airlines charged, providing only a few dozen seats, mainly in business class.
I asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) about why they were struggling to fill flights given how many Australians were desperate to get home.
“Around 35,000 people are currently registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as being overseas and wanting to return,” a spokesperson replied. “This number changes regularly according to people’s circumstances.”
They noted that since the start of the pandemic it has helped 18,800 Australians return on 127 government-facilitated flights. It is understood that of the 35,000 registered, about 4300 are in the UK.
Initially the seats are offered on a case-by-case basis to vulnerable Australians, prior to being made publicly available if seats remain.
On April 16, the Australian High Commission in the UK announced six government-facilitated commercial flights would depart London in May. Australians registered to return were contacted via email.
On April 22, these flights were made more generally available to any Australian citizen or permanent resident in the UK and Ireland. This was advertised via the Australian High Commission’s social media. But due to the low numbers taking advantage of the scheduled flights, DFAT eventually merged three flights into one departing May 16.
Obviously some Australians who have registered their intent to return might not take up the opportunity for a variety of reasons. While DFAT won’t speculate on why the numbers are low, one factor might be the rapidly improving COVID-19 statistics in the UK, with fewer deaths and infections of the virulent UK strain. The impressive vaccination rollout may have alleviated some of the pressure.
The reduced demand for flights from London has proved timely given the resumption of flights from India to Darwin this weekend. We can assume that, with some 9000 citizens and residents desperate to leave the pandemic-ravaged country, those flights will at least be full.
One knows that many Australians, including media, assume that the UK and the US are the centre of the world and of interest to Australian citizens, but this may reflect another modern Oz dynamic (including our Anglocentric media)?
As we have become a more Eurasian nation there are now (more?) significant numbers of Australians in the EU, Mid East and of course Asian nations, while those in the UK decline (not helped by Brexit if on EU passports).
I am one of the 35000. I really want to fly to Sydney for urgent family reasons, but my job and income is in Europe. I can live with the quarantine process provided I have good WiFi to work with (so forget Howard Springs) and need to be able to get back to Europe after a few weeks. This is not easy. There are few flights, and very expensive. And there is the risk that the government will do one of its arbitrary flip flops and change the rules, trapping me in Oz with nowhere to live and no income. There needs to be a two way solution. By the way I am fully Pfizer vaccinated, not the the Oz government cares.
Agree, but sure the govt. will do everything possible to place obstacles in front of Australians registered to vote but offshore…… a modern form of voter suppression focusing on younger and/or mobile working…..
Howard Springs has WiFi.
Wanting the world to return to pre covid travel is a dream. Most people realise this. It will take time. Be patient. There are people with far more important life threatening issues than you, people separated from their children. People who want to come home & stay here. There is a two way ‘solution’ but you are clearly not famous enough, sporty enough or rich enough to qualify for the LNP’s golden ticket with home quarantine thrown in for good measure. Realise this. The change you demand is centred on privilege. Be patient. There is a pandemic to defeat before your particular needs can be met.
most ridiculous comment i ever read
If you read the posts from the Aussies Stranded in the Uk Co-vid 19 website, you’ll have the answer as to why the flights aren’t being fully subscribed!! They are being given less than 2 weeks notice of the flights. That’s 2 weeks to resign from jobs, sell houses or give notice on leases, pack up households, withdraw children from schools, organise paperwork and medical!! If they were advised of proposed flights 4 to 6 weeks in advance, there would be a huge difference in the number of returning stranded Aussies. Typical government incompetence!!
“While DFAT won’t speculate on why the numbers are low, one factor might be the rapidly improving COVID-19 statistics in the UK, with fewer deaths and infections of the virulent UK strain. The impressive vaccination rollout may have alleviated some of the pressure.”
The widespread myth repeated in the Australian media that ex-pats are desperate to get back here because they live in daily terror of Covid is just that, a myth.
Having been a UK resident for 15 years until October 2020 (I came back to be with my terminally I’ll father), I am in daily contact with people there ranging in age from 25-75. Most had Covid-19 a long time ago, and see the restrictions as a nuisance. Hysterical reports of ‘mutant strains’ are rightly mocked as the fear mongering that they are, with India’s highest daily death rate being a mere 10% of the UK’s worst.
Mutant strains are serious threats. No-one wants a mutant strain in Australia as they are proving more infectious. With so few vaccinated here in Australia due to an incompetent government, this is of huge concern. Only a fool would laugh at the mutating strains. Your ignorance is distressing. Look at what happened in the UK & in India. The serious nature of covid 19 is BECAUSE IT MUTATES SO QUICKLY. Please take time to read about what doctors & immune eulogists are saying about covid 19. NONE OF THEM ARE LAUGHING.
The scenes of funeral pyres in India not enough to convince you that mutant strains are dangerous? Oh dear. There are anti vaxers, covid deniers, then people like you. All equally dangerous with their ‘open up & let it rip’ desires….