Disgusting new details reveal passengers on board a Qantas flight from Perth were woken up to screams as bed bugs crawled up their legs, across their belongings and along the aircraft’s windows.
The outbreak was detected last Friday after travellers on board the Rome-bound flight QF5 complained of being bitten to cabin crew mid-flight.
Qantas later cancelled the return service from Rome to Perth on Saturday and took the Boeing 787 Dreamliner out of service for a deep clean and fumigation.
But it can now be revealed that passengers had alerted Qantas staff to the bed bugs hours earlier, during the Sydney-to-Perth leg of QF5, and were horrified when the aircraft continued on to Rome.
“They were crawling over our belongings, our clothing, our Qantas blankets, and they were even crawling along the window,” passenger Hailey Bagnall told 9News.
“On the way to getting our bags, the bugs just kept coming. They were in my husband’s shoes, crawling up our legs, crawling on our jumpers.”
Other travellers also complained of being bitten during the nightmare 17-hour flight to Italy.
“I was woken by screaming, a baby saying ‘buggies’ – some were sick,” another passenger said.
Affected passengers were reportedly provided with antihistamines by cabin crew until supplies ran out.
Travellers impacted by the flight cancellation were rebooked on alternative flights within 48 hours of the original departure time and provided with accommodation in the interim.
A Qantas spokesperson told PerthNow the cancellation was implemented to allow maintenance crews the opportunity to deep-clean the aircraft.
“We sincerely apologise to customers for the cancellation of Saturday’s Rome to Perth service, which allowed our engineers and maintenance teams to carry out a deep clean of the aircraft after an issue was identified on a small number of economy seats.
Qantas said its aircraft were cleaned regularly and disinfected every 50 days as a precaution.
The Perth-to-Rome route is a popular non-stop service for the national carrier, which extended its seasonal schedule until late October by adding 40 flights and almost 10,000 seats.
Measuring between one to five millimetres, bed bugs are tiny parasitic insects that feed on human blood and can quickly spread by hiding in clothing, furniture and personal belongings.
Their bites can cause itching and swelling, but are not known to spread disease and are therefore not considered to be a public health hazard, according to WA Health.
The Qantas outbreak is not the first time bed bugs have been found on aircraft.
Bed bugs were found aboard a British Airways service from Vancouver to London in 2017, while passengers on a Turkish Airlines flight from Johannesburg to Istanbul complained of an outbreak in 2024.