00:01Now, of those hundreds of travellers that we did see effectively stranded at Sydney
00:06Airport over the weekend, we did hear first of all from a lot of travellers who said that
00:11there was a real squeeze on accommodation in Sydney, naturally Mardi Gras weekend.
00:16At the same time, we have heard from the Australian Travel Industry Association in the wake of
00:22these attacks and the disruptions that have sort of rippled through since, that they're
00:27really advising travellers to take a closer look at their travel insurance, particularly
00:31to make sure whether they are covered for armed conflict or acts of war, which a lot of companies
00:38who do offer travel insurance simply do not cover for.
00:41But we got the chance to speak to some of those stranded travellers here at the airport from
00:49Saturday evening onwards.
00:51It was clearly a mix of frustration and anxiety.
00:55Let's take a quick listen to what they had to say.
00:58So when we spoke to one representative, they said it was because of the situation in the
01:04UAE and that we would be escorted to collect our luggage.
01:09So we collected our luggage, which meant a massive queue in a hot tunnel for a while.
01:14Then we had to go through passport control, through immigration.
01:18When we got through to this side, there was nobody here.
01:21No representative from the airline, which is Qatar.
01:26And basically, we've been in the airport ever since.
01:28There's no representative at all from Qatar.
01:31There's been no hotel organised, there's been no food, no drink, no reimbursements, nothing.
01:35Now, Virgin Australia that cancelled seven flights yesterday have cancelled an additional two
01:42today.
01:43One heading to Doha, one returning from Doha.
01:47They've made clear that they are contacting affected passengers directly.
01:51But the broader warning for anyone who does think that they may have been impacted is to directly
01:57contact that airline.
01:59This is naturally a very fluid situation.
02:01We are expecting to get further details, particularly on those airspace closures throughout the day.
02:06We understand that Etihad have suspended all flights to and from Abu Dhabi until around 9am Sydney time.
02:15So we are expecting to hear an update on that situation soon.
02:19Emirates have suspended all flights to and from Dubai until 10pm Sydney time.
02:24We are also expecting to hear later this evening at about 5pm an update from the Qatari Civil Aviation Authority.
02:32So certainly a very fluid situation, but for those who are trapped in it, an anxious wait.
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