Qantas has said that its Airbus A380
flights between Sydney, Australia, and Johannesburg, South Africa, have been forcibly delayed because information about rocket debris and re-entries from SpaceX has been changing at the last minute.
Last-minute changes
Ben Holland, the head of the operations center of Qantas
, said that SpaceX
has been providing last-minute notices about the location of rocket debris falling over the Southern Indian Ocean, directly over the flight path of the itinerary between Sydney Airport
(SYD) and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), according to Reuters.
Holland added that while the airline has tried to make changes to its schedule in advance, the timings of recent SpaceX launches have moved with little notice, resulting in the airline being forced to delay flights before their departure.
Photo: A Periam Photography | Shutterstock
The Qantas executive said that the Australian carrier has been in contact with the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX. The airline hopes the US-based space technology company could refine the areas and time windows for rockets’ re-entry to minimize disruptions to its flight schedule.
“Customers generally understand this is outside of airlines’ control and that we can’t fly in the area when the rocket re-entry is taking place.”
Qantas operates flight QF63/QF64 between Sydney and Johannesburg. Flightradar24 records showed that the flights from the Australian city have only departed thrice on time so far in 2025.
The Australian airline has been operating the route exclusively with an Airbus A380 since October, data from the aviation analytics company Cirium’s Diio Mi airline planning system showed. Previously, Qantas used a Boeing 787-9
to operate up to six weekly flights from Sydney to Johannesburg.

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Chronic delays
Flight QF63’s scheduled departure time is 9:30 local time (UTC +11) from Sydney. During the past few days, the flight left Sydney at 10:25, 10:23, 10:55, and 12:14, according to the flight’s history on Flightradar24.
Meanwhile, QF64 is scheduled to depart Johannesburg
at 17:15 local time (UTC +2). Over the past few days, the flight has departed at 23:03, 17:37, 18:24, and 22:41.
However, it is not the only flight crossing the southern portion of the Indian Ocean. For example, South African Airways
has a direct flight from Johannesburg to Perth Airport
(PER), which is scheduled to leave the South African city at 20:35.
Photo: Hafit Irawan | Shutterstock
Flight SA280, which was canceled on January 12, departed at 21:46 on January 13. On January 11, 10, and 9, it departed within 30 minutes of its scheduled time. The return itinerary, SA281, scheduled to depart Perth at 23:25, was significantly delayed on January 13.
Then, the Airbus A340-300, registered as ZS-SXD, left Perth at 03:44 the next day. The previous significant delay was on December 27, when the same A340-300 took off from the Australian city at 08:04 the next day.
Air Mauritius
operates another route across the Indian Ocean, offering a direct connection between Port Louis Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport (MRU) and Perth. Flight MK440 has had up to one-hour delays in the past few weeks, but some flights, like on January 7, departed relatively on time (with a 12-minute delay).
Similarly, the Mauritian airline’s return itinerary, flight MK441, has had no significant delays so far in 2025. On January 5, the flight, scheduled to leave Perth at 13:05, departed the Western Australian city at 13:37, while other flights had departed within a 20-minute timeframe during the past two weeks.

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Nine-hour journey to nowhere
Flight QF63 also experienced an unfortunate situation on December 25. The A380, registered as VH-OQG, departed Sydney at 22:17. However, after spending more than five hours in the air, the A380 turned back to the Australian city.
Photo: Ryan Fletcher | Shutterstock
In a statement to Simple Flying, a Qantas spokesperson said that the flight had to return to Sydney due to mechanical issues with the A380. The airframe returned to service the following day, operating flight QF11 to Los Angeles International Airport
(LAX).

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