“Crawling Up Our Legs” – Commercial Jet Forced To Ground Because Of Bedbug Infestation

Qantas, Australia’s national airliner, was forced to cancel a flight from Italy to Australia after bedbugs were discovered on the aircraft.

The parasitic insects were found on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as it traveled from Perth to Rome.

Passengers on the incoming flight complained about being bitten onboard.

“[They were] crawling over our belongings, our clothing, our Qantas blankets, and they were even crawling along the window,” one passenger told 9News.

“On the way to getting our bags, the bugs just kept coming,” the passenger continued.

“They were in my husband’s shoes, crawling up our legs, crawling on our jumpers,” she added.

The next flight was canceled, and the aircraft had to be taken out of service for cleaning once it arrived in Rome.

Qantas flight grounded after bedbug outbreak https://t.co/y7SqnLD9Yv

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 12, 2026

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nine.com.au shared further:

Travellers complained of being bitten on the almost 17-hour non-stop service to Italy.

“I was woken by screaming, a baby saying ‘buggies’ – some children were sick,” one passenger, who didn’t want their name published, said.

Some passengers were delayed by up to two days due to the cancelled return leg. Qantas said affected passengers were given hotels and rebooked on flights.

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“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,” an airline spokesperson said in a statement.

“The insects were reportedly found in the forward section of economy, with passengers reporting bites during the long-haul journey. Some affected travellers were reportedly given antihistamines to help relieve the irritation,” aviation news page FL360aero stated.

“Bedbugs can travel in clothing and luggage and hide in seat fabrics and cabin crevices, making them difficult to detect and eradicate. While their bites can cause itching and irritation, they are not known to transmit diseases to humans. The incident highlights an unusual challenge for airline cabin hygiene and aircraft turnaround operations, even on long-haul services operated by modern widebody aircraft,” it added.

QANTAS BOEING 787 GROUNDED IN ROME AFTER BEDBUGS DISCOVERED ONBOARD

Qantas has been forced to take a Boeing 787 Dreamliner out of service in Rome after bedbugs were discovered in the aircraft’s economy cabin following flight QF5 from Perth to Rome on 9 October 2026.

What… pic.twitter.com/UUiQT7ymgq

— FL360aero (@fl360aero) October 13, 2026

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More from The Sydney Morning Herald:

Qantas said its aircraft cabins are cleaned regularly and to an extremely high standard. A deep clean of a plane to rid it of bed bugs requires fumigation, taking the plane out of service.

The airline said that as a matter of course, Qantas aircraft are disinfected every 50 days as a precaution.

Still cases of bed bugs on planes are not unheard of.

In a 2017 example, bed bugs were found on a British Airways flight from Vancouver to London. In 2024 passengers on a Turkish Airways flight from Johannesburg to Istanbul reported an outbreak of the bugs.

The Better Health Channel reports that “although bed bugs can harbour diseases in their bodies, transmission to humans is highly unlikely”.

They are not dangerous, unless a person is allergic to them, the health service said.

“However, their presence can be distressing and their bites can be highly irritating.”

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