By Adam Ray
Qantas flies to twenty cities outside of Australia, so their grounding has caused headaches for travellers around the world.
The Knight family are still trying to get back to Perth, more than a day after their flight was meant to depart Auckland.
Nadine and Jamie Knight and their three children came to New Zealand for Jamie’s father’s 60th birthday, and to watch the All Blacks win the world cup – but they expected to be home by now.
“I’ve got three kids and I’m trying to get home to them,” Mr Knight says.
“I’ve got a job to fly out to on Thursday… I don't know what to do.”
The Knight’s return flight to Perth via Sydney was cancelled yesterday, and today the best Qantas can do is fly them to Melbourne.
Mr Knight says the airline has “given up” on getting them home.
“We have paid our money, paid our dues and this is what we get given,” he says.
Qantas will resume all flights tomorrow but it's too late for the Knights, who are hoping to find seats with Air New Zealand.
Passengers have been affected all over the world, and as far away as Heathrow passengers are being told to forget about flying anywhere.
“Our agent told us best to forget the holiday, get the money back, and book again from scratch,” one international traveller told 3 News.
Air New Zealand was planning to put on extra planes to help meet demand from Qantas passengers but says they're not needed anymore. The airline had a small increase in passengers from cancelled Qantas flights.
3 News