Qantas flight grounded after bedbug outbreak
The flight from Italy to Australia was cancelled after passengers on the plane's previous journey complained of bug bites.
Qantas flight grounded after bedbug outbreak
A Qantas flight from Italy to Australia was cancelled on Saturday after bedbugs were found on the plane.
On the previous flight on Friday — a journey of nearly 17 hours from Perth to Rome — some passengers complained that they were being bitten by bugs, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
They were reportedly given antihistamines to relieve the itching from the bites, but the supplies ran out.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner had to be grounded for "a deep clean", a Qantas spokesperson told the BBC.
"We sincerely apologise to customers for the cancellation of Saturday's Rome to Perth service, which allowed our engineers and maintenance teams to carry out a deep clean of the aircraft after an issue was identified on a small number of economy seats," the spokesperson said.
The airline said all affected customers were given accommodation and rebooked on alternative flights within 48 hours of their original departure.
Bedbugs are small, wingless parasites that can live on clothes, furniture and bedding. According to the NHS website, their bites can be itchy but they do not usually lead to more serious health problems.
However, they can be difficult and costly to eliminate. Treatment involves washing all bedding, clothing and household items such as curtains on a hot wash and tumble dry, or placing them in plastic bags in a freezer for three or four days.
Bedbugs causing travel disruption is not uncommon — less than two weeks ago, several Southeastern train services in England were cancelled after drivers found the creepy-crawlies in their cabs.
In 2017, British Airways apologised to a family travelling from Vancouver to London after they were left covered in bug bites from an overnight flight.
And Turkish Airlines faced a PR nightmare last year after the New York Times reported, external, several instances of bedbug infestations on its planes — and allegations at the time that the airline did nothing about it.