JAKARTA - One of the world’s longest commercial flights, Qantas’ nonstop QF9 service between Perth and London Heathrow which operates since March 2018, has been forced to add a refuelling stop in Singapore for the first time since its launch, becoming the highest-profile casualty of the Middle East airspace crisis triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

The change took effect from March 4 departures, with the northbound service adding a stop at Singapore Changi Airport and extending total travel time to around 20-21 hours from the normal approximately 17 hours. The southbound QF10 service from London to Perth continues to operate nonstop, aided by favourable tailwinds on the eastward leg. 

Before the Singapore stop was introduced, Qantas had been flying an extended track over India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan to avoid closed airspace, adding 30-45 minutes and forcing payload restrictions. Crew repositioning was the main reason it took several days after the February 28 strikes to introduce the stopover.

“We’re temporarily adjusting the flight paths for our flights between Perth and London due to the situation in parts of the Middle East,” a Qantas spokesperson said. “We’ll reach out to customers directly if there’s any change to their booking.”

Qantas said the Singapore stop is temporary and under review but gave no end date, saying it would reassess once Gulf airspace was "declared safe by all relevant authorities."

At least eight countries closed their airspace on February 28: Iran, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE, with Syria also partially closing its southern airspace. 

More than 1,800 outbound flights were cancelled on February 28 alone, with Emirates recording a 38.5 percent cancellation rate, flydubai over 50 percent, and Qatar Airways around 41 percent, according to Cirium. 

More than 11,000 flights had been cancelled since February 28 as of Tuesday March 3, according to the Cirium data as well. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued a high-risk Conflict Zone Information Bulletin for affected airspace.

In the Gulf states, Emirates suspended all Dubai flights through the end of Saturday March 7 and operated only limited repatriation and freight services. Etihad suspended all scheduled commercial flights to and from Abu Dhabi until 6am UAE time on March 6, with only limited repositioning, cargo, and repatriation flights operating in coordination with UAE authorities. Qatar Airways remained fully suspended, pending clearance from the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.

Over in Europe, Lufthansa Group suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil, Dammam, and Tehran until March 8, and to Dubai and Abu Dhabi until March 6. Finnair cancelled Dubai flights through March 28 and Helsinki-Doha services until at least March 6.

British Airways is also offering free rebooking to March 15 for passengers affected by cancellations to and via Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, and Tel Aviv. Virgin Atlantic was among the first international carriers to resume, restarting London-Dubai and London-Riyadh services on Wednesday March 4.