Topical 5/3/26

Restrictions in airspace in the Middle East is causing havoc for Aussie travellers. Dubai and Doha, two widely used connections linking Australian tourists with Europe, have seen their airports grind to a halt due to the ongoing attacks between Israel, America and Iran. “We had boarded our plane in Dublin and were on our way home to Australia. Shortly into the flight we were told we needed to return to Dublin due to the escalating incident in Iran and the Middle East,” a travelling correspondent tells Topical. “We were effectively stranded in Dublin and only offered a 15 Euro meal voucher for the airport. Thankfully we could stay with family overnight in Dublin while we worked our way through the fiasco. We managed to get an expensive flight to London, stayed overnight, and fortunately secured another expensive flight, this one to Singapore and then home. It’s been a costly exercise. To make matters worse, we were notified we weren’t covered by our travel insurance as we weren’t covered by an act of war. We’ll be reading the fine print next time.”