Travel Question: Will my Royal Brunei flight be blocked from landing in Australia?

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Melbourne is being urged to revoke the airline’s rights after the Asian nation introduced tough new laws (Getty/iStock)

Q I have booked flights with Royal Brunei Airlines to travel from Heathrow to Melbourne in December. I have just found out about the sharia laws that the Sultan of Brunei is imposing, and the backlash around the world it is creating. I have heard that Australia might not let flights land there so I am extremely worried. Do you think it will happen? And can I get my money back?

Name withheld

A On 3 April 2019, the Sultanate of Brunei introduced a sharia criminal code which specifies death by stoning for certain crimes including sodomy, adultery and blasphemy. This applies on Brunei-registered aircraft even at overseas airports such as Heathrow and Melbourne. The Australian federal government is being urged by LGBT+ organisations and thousands of individuals to revoke Royal Brunei Airlines’ right to land in Australia.

Melbourne airport’s chief executive, Lyell Strambi, told The Independent: “Like many Australians we find these new measures to be extremely confronting and we share the concerns of those organisations that have contacted us over the matter. When it comes to aviation access rights, those decisions are solely a matter for [Australia’s] federal government and as such, we will be guided by the response of the Commonwealth.”

Experience suggests that flights will continue unless and until there is an incident involving an Australian citizen who falls foul of these laws. There are plenty of airlines from countries with highly questionable human-rights records serving Australia (and, for that matter, the UK) and these are likely to continue. So Royal Brunei will probably continue to fly via its hub, Bandar Seri Begawan, and connect Heathrow and Melbourne. The carrier is continuing to sell the cheapest fares between the two cities in December and January.

Were the current passenger boycott to cause Royal Brunei to withdraw from London and/or Melbourne, you would be entitled to your money back, but at this stage there are no legal grounds for cancelling and getting a full refund.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder