Qantas grounds Boeing 787 in Rome after bedbugs found on Perth flight
Qantas cancelled the Rome to Perth service on Saturday, 10 October, after bedbugs were found in the economy cabin of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the QF5 flight from Perth. Affected passengers were given accommodation and rebooked on alternative flights within 48 hours of their original departure.
Bedbugs found on the Perth to Rome flight
Qantas grounded a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Rome after bedbugs were found on board the QF5 flight from Perth on Friday, 9 October. The insects were found in the front part of the economy section, according to a source with knowledge of the incident who confirmed the details on Tuesday, 13 October. The aircraft was taken out of service for cleaning after reaching the Italian capital, which led to the cancellation of the Rome to Perth service on Saturday, 10 October. Passengers on the Friday flight, a nearly 17-hour journey from Perth to Rome, had complained of being bitten, and antihistamines given to some of them ran out, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
- Bedbugs found in the front of the economy cabin on the QF5 flight from Perth to Rome
- Rome to Perth service cancelled while the aircraft is deep cleaned
- A source with knowledge of the incident confirms the bedbug discovery
Qantas response
Qantas said the Saturday cancellation allowed its engineers and maintenance teams to carry out a deep clean after a problem was found on a small number of economy seats. A company spokesperson told the BBC that the airline wanted to apologise directly to customers for the disruption.
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.
All affected customers were given accommodation and rebooked on alternative flights within 48 hours of their original departure, the carrier said. Qantas also said its aircraft cabins are cleaned regularly to an extremely high standard and treated with disinfectant every 50 days as a standard precautionary measure. The airline did not specify how many passengers were affected.
Why bedbugs spread on planes
Michelle Power, a parasitologist at Macquarie University, said the bugs had "more than likely" been brought onto the plane in someone's luggage or on a passenger's clothes, then escaped into the cabin. She explained the link to travel in the following terms:
They're associated with travel. People may go to a hotel that's infested and because they like dark spaces and are attracted to the smell of human clothes, they make their way into someone's luggage.
Power said the insects are flightless and not dangerous, although their bites can itch and irritate. They are very difficult to get rid of and can hide in bedsheets and crevices for a long time without feeding. She also described two sides to the problem: wealthier people who travel a lot pick them up and move them around, while people already facing health inequities may not be able to afford pesticides or heat water to the 55C needed to kill them.
Treatment and earlier incidents
The BBC describes bedbugs as small, wingless parasites that can live on clothes, furniture and bedding. Citing the NHS, it says treatment includes washing bedding, clothing and curtains on a hot wash and tumble drying them, or placing items in plastic bags in a freezer for three or four days. Less than two weeks before the BBC's report, several Southeastern train services in England were cancelled after drivers found bedbugs in their cabs. In 2017, British Airways apologised to a family travelling from Vancouver to London who were covered in bug bites after an overnight flight. The BBC also recalled that in 2025 the New York Times reported several bedbug infestations on Turkish Airlines planes, with allegations at the time that the airline did nothing about it.
