After it was determined that a Qantas Airlines passenger plane had been infested with bed bugs, the aircraft’s return flight, scheduled for Saturday, was canceled.
Authorities took action after some passengers on a Qantas Airlines flight from Italy to Australia—operated by the Australia-based carrier—complained of insect bites. An inspection conducted after the 17-hour flight on Friday confirmed that the aircraft had been infested with bed bugs. The return flight, which was scheduled for Saturday, was canceled.
In a statement, Qantas Airlines announced that the flight was canceled to allow for a “thorough cleaning,” “We sincerely apologize to our customers for the cancellation of the Rome-Perth flight scheduled for Saturday, which was canceled so that our engineers and maintenance crews could thoroughly clean the aircraft after an issue was detected in a small number of economy-class seats.”
It was reported that the hotel expenses of passengers affected by the cancellation were covered and that they were rebooked on alternative flights within 48 hours.
In 2017, British Airways also apologized to a family traveling from Vancouver to London after they were bitten by bed bugs.
