The first Qantas flight to depart Heathrow has taken off after nearly 12 hours of delays, but passengers flying other airlines from the UK have already landed in Australia after a volcanic eruption in Iceland caused days of disruption.
QF32 from London, bound for Sydney, went through a series of delays after Qantas grounded the plane pending advice from Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
The flight departed on Thursday around 12am local time (9am AEST) but flight QF8230 to Melbourne was cancelled earlier on Wednesday.
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British Airways, Air Malta, and Virgin Atlantic departed hours earlier from Heathrow and have already landed in Sydney.
Last week, a volcanic eruption in Iceland forced the closure of airports across Europe, but they have gradually re-opened, with London's Heathrow back in operation on Wednesday (AEST).
On Thursday, Qantas corporate affairs spokesman David Epstein said UK meteorological services had informed Qantas that a second volcanic cloud might be approaching Heathrow airspace.
Safety first policy
Mr Epstein said Qantas operated under CASA policy no matter where it was flying in the world and had to consult the agency first.
"It's a safety first policy ... and it's very frustrating and we stand by it entirely," Mr Epstein told AAP.
"Other countries have different regulatory systems and the fact is that we haven't lost a plane in the jet age and other countries have."
Passengers were furious as flights from other international carriers continue to depart Heathrow unencumbered.
More frustrations
After a series of delays, QF32 passengers boarded the plane but were then disembarked after news of the recent volcanic activity.
"Every other airline that has flown out of Heathrow today has done so without any problem whatsoever," Qantas passenger Justin Davis told AAP from Heathrow airport.
"I've seen British Airways leaving, Finnair leaving, Nigeria (Airlines) leaving - you name it."
He and others were perplexed by consecutive Qantas announcements stating that the airline needed approval from Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to depart.
"Qantas has no balls and they need to get final approval from CASA to fly out of European air space," Mr Davis said.
"The CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) in Europe has let all the European airlines fly but Qantas can't make a f***ing decision."
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said five aircraft had departed Asia on time, four last night and one this morning, and were heading for London to clear a backlog of 2000 passengers.
"We are applying to Heathrow and Frankfurt for extra slots so that we can operate extra services to clear the backlog as fast as possible," he said.
"But we still think it will probably take 2-3 weeks to get there."
Qantas will not be seeking assistance from the federal government, despite running up costs of $1.5-2 million per day.
"No we don't think this is a taxpayer issue," Mr Joyce said.
"We are digesting these costs ourselves."
Qantas still planned to restart its services on Thursday afternoon from Australia to London and Frankfurt.
