Qantas claims there are 'no issues' after five flights turned back

Five Qantas flights have turned around mid-air in the past week but the International and Domestic CEO claims there are "absolutely no issues" with the airline.

Qantas International and Domestic CEO Andrew David defended the airline claiming the five mid-air dramas which forced planes to turn around were unrelated.

He also said Qantas has a much lower number of turnbacks in comparison to other airlines.

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"There are absolutely no issues at Qantas," he told 2GB's Ben Fordham.

"The global aviation industry has about 10,000 diversions or turnbacks per year. We average about 60 per year."

David said despite there being several turnbacks in the past week, he would rather Qantas pilots err on the side of caution.

"They were all completely different issues and I personally would be more worried about the airlines that don't turn back compared to those that do in those situations," he said.

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It comes as a Qantas flight from Nadi in Fiji to Sydney turned back yesterday after passengers could reportedly smell fumes in the cabin.

On Wednesday, an Auckland to Sydney flight lost use of an engine and made a mayday call before downgrading it to a PAN (possible assistance needed).

Two flights out of Melbourne had to turn back and land on Friday.

On Thursday a Sydney-Fiji flight had to turn back as a precaution over a potential mechanical issue.

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David said this flight was turned back out of an abundance of caution after a fault on a heating element.

"The aircraft has three pitot probes on them, they're the things that measure speed or altitude," he said.

"A heating element on the pitot probes was faulty, all three were working, and in clear weather, the pilot is all clear to go in that situation but there was a forecast of inclement weather around Fiji so the pilot did the right thing and returned to Nadi to get that heating element fixed."

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No injuries or accidents have taken place.

David apologised to any passengers on these flights but was adamant Qantas pilots will always err on the side of caution.