It’s not proving to be a particularly joyful Christmas period for Qantas after three long-haul flights suffered mechanical problems.
About 300 frustrated Qantas passengers were stuck in Los Angeles after two canceled flights, leaving them unable to spend Christmas Day in Australia despite booking a flight to Melbourne last week.
In a separate incident on Christmas Day, another Qantas flight to South Africa was suddenly diverted about four and a half hours later as it approached the coast of Antarctica.
Emergency services met the plane on the tarmac as it returned to Sydney Airport where it had departed about nine hours later.
The QF63, an Airbus A380, departed Sydney for Johannesburg shortly before 10am on 25 December, but was back in Sydney by 7.30pm after an unspecified mechanical problem.
A Qantas spokesperson said the “pilots followed normal procedures and returned to Sydney to have the aircraft checked by engineers.”
“Customers will be reaccommodated for a service tomorrow morning and we would like to thank them for their patience and understanding,” the spokesperson said.
No injuries have been reported.
Flight QF63 was met by emergency vehicles (pictured) as it returned to the Sydney Airport tarmac on Christmas Day after the Johannesburg flight turned around near Antarctica
Wednesday’s Qantas flight to Johannesburg had to turn around after about four and a half hours
Meanwhile, in America, the QF94 is scheduled to depart from Los Angeles International Airport bound for Melbourne on December 22 at 8:30 PM local time.
Despite passengers boarding the plane shortly before the scheduled departure time, the runway remained stationary for six hours, according to Perth-based sports podcaster Will Schofield.
“Qantas brought all customers on board and kept them on the flight for six hours until they finally disembarked at 2am,” Schofield tweeted on Tuesday.
“Several passengers have been stranded at LAX for more than 48 hours.
‘Communications with Qantas are exceptionally poor, at this stage it is still not clear how – 300 passengers will return to Aus. Missed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day both.”
Schofield said the flight was rescheduled for 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 23, but again did not fly.
“About 30 minutes before departure, Qantas canceled the flight again due to the same technical issue,” Schofield tweeted.
“Qantas knew it wouldn’t fly. Passengers texted that there was a 90-minute delay about 4 hours earlier. None of the crew came to the gate.”
‘SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA?’
A Qantas spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner due to fly on December 22 had suffered a hydraulic problem that engineers could not resolve, meaning a replacement aircraft had to be brought in.
“We would like to sincerely apologize to all customers affected by the significant delay of our Los Angeles – Melbourne flight,” the spokesperson said.
‘We understand how disappointing and frustrating this experience would have been, especially for those missing Christmas Day with their loved ones.
“We are contacting customers to offer compensation, and we would like to thank them for their patience and understanding.”
Obviously Qantas is on offer accommodation, transfers, meal vouchers and a choice of Frequent Flyer Points or a travel voucher as compensation for passengers stuck in Los Angeles.
After eventually boarding a work plane, the relocated customers will arrive in Melbourne this evening.