Travel uncertainty sees tourists picking Asia or Europe over Middle East destinations

Record ID: 2363824

  • Title: Travel uncertainty sees tourists picking Asia or Europe over Middle East destinations
  • Date: 13th March 2026
  • Summary: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (MARCH 12, 2026) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN RESIDENT WHO CHANGED TRAVEL PLANS DUE TO MIDDLE EAST CRISIS, SHOBANA GOPAL, SAYING: "Honestly, because the trip was two, three months away anyway, so looking at whatever is happening, I don't think it's going to get resolved in a couple of months, that's what we felt and we proactively cancelled
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Asia Australia Iran Middle East airspace aviation travel
  • Location: SYDNEY AND ORANGE, AUSTRALIA
  • City: SYDNEY AND ORANGE, AUSTRALIA
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA001324312032026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: With the Gulf serving as a global crossroads for air travel, the Iran conflict underscores how quickly turmoil in a single region can disrupt flight networks worldwide, driving up prices, squeezing capacity and throwing holiday plans into chaos. 
    For many Australians, the prospect of travel disruptions due to the Middle East war simply isn't worth it, prompting a growing number to stay closer to home or reroute their journeys.
    Shobana Gopal, who works in the insurance industry in Sydney, said her family decided to abandon plans to transit through Dubai on the way to Austria. Instead, they switched their holiday to China to avoid potential disruptions.
    Sumit Sharma, employed in the banking sector in Sydney, had planned a family trip to Dubai on Etihad Airways, but changed his plans after the airline confirmed he was eligible for a refund. 
    “We changed the plan from the Middle East to Hong Kong,” Sharma said. He and his family will now fly with Cathay Pacific, and he’s looking forward to taking his son to Disneyland.
    “I would always try to take another route in the future, if I am going anywhere in Europe,” said Aditya Kushwaha, a disability support worker from Orange, New South Wales, who was planning to travel to the United Kingdom with his family.
    Qantas said this week more customers were choosing to travel to Europe via the United States, other Asian cities and Johannesburg, connecting through its partner network.
    Flights on Qantas' European routes, including Perth-London, Perth-Paris and services via Singapore, are more than 90 per cent full in March, which is approximately 15 percentage points higher than normal for this time of year. 
    Airlines including Cathay Pacific and Lufthansa have said demand for routes through Europe has surged, with the German carrier flagging that 12-month forward bookings for direct flights to Asia are up 75% year-on-year. 
    (Production: Cordelia Hsu, James Redmayne, Alessandro Parodi, Daniel Lim)
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