Overview
- Several economy passengers on the Perth–Rome QF5 flight reported itchy bites during the roughly 16–17 hour journey on Friday October 9, and crew gave antihistamines until supplies ran out.
- Qantas took the Boeing 787 out of service when the jet reached Rome and cancelled the scheduled Rome‑to‑Perth return so engineers and maintenance teams could carry out a targeted deep clean and treatment.
- The airline provided hotel accommodation and rebooked affected customers on alternative flights within 48 hours, and it says the issue was confined to a small number of economy seats.
- Health authorities and bed‑bug experts cited by coverage say bed bugs are a nuisance that cause itchy welts but are not known to transmit disease, and that eradication on aircraft needs vacuuming, heat/steam and approved insecticide work.
- Reporters note this is an uncommon but recurring problem in aviation and that Qantas says it disinfects cabins on a 50‑day schedule while it investigates how the insects reached the plane.