00:01For some of the passengers who touched down in Sydney this morning off the first flight
00:05from Abu Dhabi since the conflict began, it was straight off the tarmac and into a scathing
00:11assessment of DFAT, with some of those passengers confused as to why the plane appeared to be
00:16less than half full.
00:18Etihad Flight 450 was the first flight out of the UAE since the conflict began, and while
00:23there was not the same scenes of high emotion from when the first flight out of the Middle
00:27East landed in Sydney on Wednesday night from Dubai, there was still an outpouring of cheers,
00:33tears and relief for families reunited once again after an anxious wait.
00:38The Australian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates had issued an alert yesterday telling Australians
00:43there were still some seats available on the flight, and upon touching down in Sydney, the
00:48message from those on board was one of surprise as to how empty the flight was.
00:53It was a similar scene at Melbourne Airport earlier this morning, with an Emirates flight
00:57returning from Dubai also understood to be essentially half full.
01:01With around 115,000 Australians in the region, stranded travellers are understood to be only
01:07a fraction of that number.
01:08But there are six DFAT crisis teams dispatched to the region, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong
01:14disappointed at the number of half-empty flights.
01:17The Foreign Minister says the government is trying to ensure that all flights to Australia
01:21from the Middle East are as full as possible.
01:23That is really disappointing, and I'm disappointed with that.
01:28So we are seeking to work even more closely with the airlines to try and coordinate that.
01:34We want every seat filled.
01:36The United Arab Emirates says a civilian air corridor has been negotiated with Iran that
01:41will allow around 48 flights to leave per hour.
01:45The Australian Government says they're doing all they can to bring back more Australians, promising
01:50to work more closely with the airlines to allow for not only more flights, but more passengers
01:56on board.
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