Qantas passengers are bitten by bedbugs on 17-hour Perth-to-Rome flight as antihistamines run out mid-air

From the Newshound archive · first published 13 October 2026 · last updated 14 October 2026.

Travellers on Qantas flight QF5 from Perth to Rome on 9 October were bitten by bedbugs during the nearly 17-hour journey, with crew handing out antihistamines until supplies were exhausted. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, nicknamed Kookaburra, was grounded in Rome for a deep clean and fumigation, forcing the cancellation of the return QF6 service the following day. Passengers were stranded in Rome for up to two days before being rebooked on alternative flights and provided with hotel accommodation.

Bedbugs were found in the economy section of the Dreamliner and are believed to have been brought aboard in luggage or on passengers' clothing.

Qantas said its cabins are cleaned to 'an extremely high standard' and treated with disinfectant every 50 days, but the outbreak still left the aircraft unfit for service.

The chaos follows golf legend Greg Norman publicly savaging Qantas as a 'never-on-time' airline after his Sydney-to-Dallas flight was delayed by three hours.