Passenger reveals bed bug anguish on separate Qantas plane, two weeks before different flight grounded

Qantas has been hit with another claim of bed bug issues, stemming from a journey two weeks before the pests forced the cancellation of an intercontinental flight.

Frequent flyer Conor O’Reilly said he was left covered in bites on his lower back and bottom, along with some on his arms and legs, after travelling from Los Angeles to Melbourne on QF94 on September 30.

The 34-year-old said he overheard a man, woman and young child in the row behind him complaining about bed bugs.

“The family were obviously pretty annoyed,” he told nine.com.au.

“Sounded like they kind of were on the pillows or on the blankets that everyone gets. 

“I'm not sure if that's where they came in or not, but sounded like it was.”

The US-based Irish-Australian said the family was moved to other seats and a spray Qantas described as a “safe disinfectant” was used when the plane landed in Melbourne. 

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Passengers ‘woken by screaming’ on Qantas bed bug flight

O’Reilly, who is a pilot himself, would have liked to see more passengers warned about the bed bugs.

“I didn't know I was bitten until I'd got home, and yeah, the second I pretty much – the second I walked in the door, I looked, started scratching,” he said.

“And then [I] took my shirt off and I could see the red marks coming out already.”

He described the bites as “pretty bad” but said he quickly washed all his clothes and prevented any infestation in his house.

O’Reilly complained to Qantas customer service which, after a week, apologised for the inconvenience.

“The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry may board arriving international flights to undertake precautionary checks or treatments,” a customer care executive manager told him in an email seen by nine.com.au.

“On this occasion, an issue was identified and isolated to two seats in the same row in Economy, and the aircraft was treated with a safe disinfectant in accordance with Australian requirements.

“The product used is routinely used by our cabin crew onboard.”

Qantas said it takes reports of bed bugs and other pests on its aircraft “seriously”.

“During our Los Angeles to Melbourne flight on 30 September, an issue was reported around two seats in the Economy cabin and our crew responded onboard,” a Qantas spokesperson told nine.com.au.

“After landing in Melbourne, the aircraft was treated in accordance with Australian biosecurity requirements.

“We take reports like this seriously and apologise to the impacted customers.”

Nine.com.au also understands seat bases and covers were then replaced in a number of seats around the area as a precaution.

An investigation into the cause of the incident is under way.

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Traveller’s gross move after bringing home unwanted passenger

O’Reilly shared his experience in the wake of a bed bug outbreak on board a Qantas flight from Sydney to Perth and on to Rome.

Passengers said they woke to screams as bed bugs crawled on their legs and up the windows, and the return flight was cancelled to carry out a deep clean of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

“On the way to getting our bags, the bugs just kept coming,” passenger Hailey Bagnall told 9News. 

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

Qantas apologised for the cancellation after “an issue identified on a small number of economy seats”.