Plans change for Queen Mary’s visit to Australia due to Middle East conflict

The Danish royal family’s scheduled visit to Australia next week has been thrown into turmoil as the escalating Middle East conflict triggers widespread global travel disruptions.

Queen Mary of Denmark and King Frederick X were due to arrive in Australia on March 14 for a four-day royal tour.

But the Royal House confirmed to Danish media BT that changes were being made to their travel plans so the royal couple could still visit.

“The royal couple’s visit to Australia will be carried out with a few adjustments that will be announced later. The dates of the visit will not be changed,” a Royal House spokesman told BT.

Former Crown Prince bodyguard Jesper Lundorff told the publication that security measures surrounding the visit had been changed dramatically following the escalating conflict.

“This is a situation that arose after the trip was planned. What you would call force majeure,” Mr Lundorf said.

“When you work with security, these are the things you try to think about. You always think about the unthinkable. It’s like being a parent of small children; you try to anticipate everything that could go wrong.”

Flight half empty

An Etihad repatriation flight from Abu Dhabi to Sydney is reportedly half empty.

Etihad Airways flight EY450 left the UAE overnight and landed in Sydney about 9.30am on Friday, but this plane fleeing the volatile Middle East was nowhere near full.

The Airbus A350 plane can carry between 300 to 480 passengers. Friday’s flight is one of the few repatriation flights drip feeding out of the Middle East for some of the 115,000 Australians stranded in the region.

Images published by 9News show rows of empty seats.

Etihad Airways has been approached for comment.

On Friday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong acknowledged the empty seats and flagged the government would be in tighter lock-step with the airlines to fill seats.

“That is really disappointing and I’m disappointed with that,” Senator Wong said when asked about the empty seats.

“So we are seeking to work even more closely with the airlines to try and co-ordinate that. We want every seat filled,” she told reporters in Adelaide.

Speaking to ABC radio elsewhere on Friday, Senator Wong said her UAE counterpart had relayed outbound flight updates and schedules.

“I spoke to the Foreign Minister of the UAE and he sent me a message overnight to tell me where the flights were,” Senator Wong said.

A second flight landed in Sydney on Thursday night, a third flight landed in Melbourne early Friday and a fourth – the first out of Abu Dhabi – landed in Sydney about 9.30am on Friday.

“And what my counterpart told me is that we’ve got four Emirates flights over the next 24 hours – two to Sydney, one to Melbourne and one to Perth,” Senator Wong said.

“Now, obviously, all of this is subject to change, but I want to just say how grateful we are to the United Arab Emirates for working with us, for getting the flights on and for providing accommodation and meals to Australians who are there.”

Rather than chartering planes, the Australian government insists the quickest way for Australians to leave the region is on commercial flights.

“This is why, although we are working on contingencies, why I keep saying the fastest way to get people home at scale is for commercial flights to open and we’re really relieved, as I’m sure their friends and family and they are, that we are seeing these windows open’” Senator Wong said.

“We’ve got about 24,000 Australians in the United Arab Emirates, fewer in Qatar.

“Not everyone will want to leave. There are some who live there and who don’t wish to leave … I think every day about 11,000 people come in and out of Australia from those ports, so that gives you a sense of the scale.”

Resources Minister Madeleine King said on Friday the federal government had not been directly involved in filling the planes and alluded to logistical issues in people getting to airports amid the widening conflict area.

“Passengers that are caught up in this are dealing directly with the airlines themselves,” Ms King told the ABC.

“My understanding – our government’s understanding – as many people as possible are getting on the flights. I too have heard those reports of empty seats. I hope that doesn’t last.”

The cabinet minister said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was working hard to fly stranded Australians home.

“It’s a long way from home, and there are Australians caught out a long way from home. The Department of Foreign Affairs are working very hard to make sure every Australian finds their way to a safe place and hopefully home,” Ms King said.

More than 280 Australians landed in Sydney on Thursday night from the Middle East, and as of Friday morning there are four Emirates flights from Dubai and two Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi scheduled in the coming 24 hours.

“I have heard, and I hope this comes to fruition, that Qatar Airways has started to organise a limited number of relief flights,” Ms King said.

Independent MP Dai Le said there were supposed to be assurances for people “desperately” trying to get out of the region.

“I don’t know why that’s not filled if we are trying to evacuate people,” she told the Today show.

“We have been told that if we had people who are stranded and who are desperately trying to get out of Iran that there is support for them to fly back here, so that is surprising to see that it’s an empty flight.”