Australian diplomats sent to Heathrow airport to help citizens stranded due to travel caps

Teams of Australian diplomats are being deployed to Heathrow airport to help stranded Australians who have been forced to camp at the airport. There are now more than 25,000 Australians overseas who have registered an intention to return home, but who cannot access flights due to the government’s strict international arrival caps. The caps, introduced in July then tightened shortly after to ease pressure on Australia’s mandatory hotel quarantine system, mean only 4,000 passengers can enter Australia each week, with some flights limited to carrying as few as 30 passengers. Airlines frustrated at the caps have begun to publicly acknowledge they are cancelling the tickets of economy, and increasingly business class passengers, so they can use their limits for more expensive tickets and remain profitable under the caps. While the caps apply to arrivals from all countries, the Australian high commission in the UK has been forced to take extra steps to deal with the impacts of the caps due to the higher number of Australians stuck in the country. “Caps on international passenger flows have made it harder to head home, but we’re determined to ensure every available seat has an Australian in it,” the high commission tweeted on Tuesday. It said the teams were meeting with passengers whose flights had been cancelled, and liaising with airlines, airports, and governments to find any unused seats. “If you need the team, flag them down in Terminal 2 or Terminal 5,” the post said. The teams presence at the airport follows previous government advice for Australians to start crowdfunding campaigns to cover living expenses and pay for higher class flights home.<br/>