Half-empty flights return to Australia from the Middle East as Penny Wong vows to work more with airlines

As more than 100,000 Australians remain stranded in the Middle East and desperate to escape the conflict zone, flights carrying Australians home are arriving with empty seats.

The Australian government is facing growing pressure to step up its efforts to help Aussies return amid rising tension after the US-Israel strikes on Iran.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was “disappointed” dozens of seats were empty on the few Middle Eastern flights to arrive back in Australia.

Coalition who has attacked Labor for acting too slowly to help stranded Australians, comparing the government’s response to that of New Zealand and the UK who announced military flights to repatriate their citizens.

Senator Wong claimed on Friday that the Albanese Government would begin engaging “even more” with airlines to capitalise on any returning flights.

“I’m disappointed. We want every seat filled. So, we are seeking to work even more closely with the airlines to try and coordinate that,” she said on Friday.

Senator Wong added that her United Arab Emirates counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan contacted her overnight to confirm a further four more flights were expected to depart for Australia.

Days after airspaces closed due to retaliatory strikes, the UAE claims it has managed to negotiate a civilian air corridor with Iran to allow around 48 flights to leave per hour from the major global transport hub.

Senator Wong said Australia was doing everything it can to bring back more Australians — with more than 115,000 thought to be in the region and about 11,000 travelling through it via international flights.

“There are many Australians who are stuck in the Middle East as a consequence of travel being disrupted because of the airports and the flights being cancelled and of course this conflict spreading and widening,” Senator Wong said.

“I am pleased that we are seeing some flights now starting to come back with a fourth flight about to land or has landed.

“We know that people are very stressed, can I assure you we are working as hard as we can around the clock, including with the airlines and the governments to try and get people home as quickly as possible.”

However, many travellers have been unable to secure flights, with late-notice airline confirmations and safety concerns making it difficult for some Australians to leave the region.

Opposition leader Angus Taylor said the Albanese Government should be “be doing everything in its power” to return Australians stranded abroad due to the escalating US-Israel strikes on Iran.

“They should be doing everything they can to help people to get back. It’s a time of great uncertainty for those people who are caught in the Middle East, but also their families back here in Australia,” he said on Friday.

“There are questions about why there’s half empty flights coming back. I don’t know the answer.

“The government needs to be doing everything in its power.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Question Time on Thursday that the government had deployed Australian Defence Force assets to the region “as part of contingency plans earlier this week”, with two military aircraft sent under Operation Beech to support potential evacuation.

Senator Wong has, however, maintained that commercial flights are the best way for Australians to get home.

She had revealed earlier this week Australia had also deployed six Crisis Response Teams in the region to aid the return “an unprecedented number” of Australians who had registered for repatriation.

“We are deploying six Crisis Response Teams. This is additional consular support to help the people who are still there on the ground,” she said.