“Worried and terrified”: Doncaster travel agent working to get people stuck in Iran home

Almost 200,000 passengers pass through Dubai International Airport every day, so it’s no surprise the ripples from the war in the Middle East – which has led to airport closures in key transit destinations such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi – have reached Doncaster-based travel agent Persia Travel.

🛄 Limited options: Persia Travel consultant Viuna said they have been constantly dealing with issues since the fighting began. 

Passengers with pre-booked flights to the Middle East – or looking to transit through the region enroute to Europe – have been the most impacted.

• 🗣️ “We’ve had to cancel or refund all of our passenger’s tickets or reschedule,” Viuna told the Eastern Melburnian. “Most of the people, they don't understand it's out of our control. We don't know what's going to happen.”

💰 No commission: Viuna said about 80 percent of their customers travel to Iran or Middle Eastern countries, meaning their business had been “basically shut down” by the conflict.

• 🗣️ “There are lots of our passengers that are stuck in Iran, or they've been traveling from Australia to Iran, but they are stuck in layover places such as Doha,” said Viuna. “It’s really hard to communicate with airlines right now because they are busy as well.”

😟 Stuck and unsure: Viuna said they had no way of contacting people trying to flee Iran, but those they had been able to contact were “worried and terrified”.

• 🗣️ “We cannot tell them if their flight is happening or not, if they have a schedule change – nothing, no ways of communicating,” said Viuna. “We’re just going to have to wait and see what's going to happen.”

🔊 Government advice: Federal Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong appeared on the Today Show on Thursday and said the government was working to get Australians on flights home.

• 🗣️ “The first thing we have to think about is how do we keep Australians safe and secure,” Wong said. “We are deploying additional foreign affairs personnel to the region to help…The best way to get people home, the fastest way, is for commercial flights to restart.”

If you need emergency assistance, contact the Australian Government's Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 (overseas) or 1300 555 135 (Australia). 

The latest travel advice from the Australian government is available here.

Thumbnail Image Credit: John McArthur/Unsplash