I know I’m not the only one - although my situation is slightly different - I work for an airline so I’m using staff travel and as a result I’m standby. Normally that means I’ll get onto a flight pretty much anywhere without too much inconvenience but this week not so.

I was in Bali, started my trip back to UK just as Iran was bombed. Now I can’t get on a flight anywhere, all commercial passengers are the priority. Every flight is oversold and there are lots of staff also trying to get on, which means there are no spare seats. Various airlines are embargoing staff altogether so it’s a back log of commercial and staff meaning it’s impossible. I’m stuck in KUL and I even looked at flying back Sydney-LA to London but now those flights are also full or embargoed.

I mean I might get on - I might not - but add to that I’ve come down with a nasty stomach bug and I can’t handle waiting around at airports crossing my fingers. Luckily my employer understands (better than anyone) the situation and I’m not being pressured to return but the fact is I don’t see a way back until all the commercial passengers are sorted out.

I am inclined to fly back to Bali as a midway point between SIN/KUL and SYD so I am in the middle but it’s all a guessing game.

Sorry to read of your situation.
What about a revenue ticket on BA ?
I flew LHR - MAA a day back and looked like all BA services were running to schedule (aside of the middle eastern flights). BA has flights ex LHR to DEL, BOM, BLR, HYD, MAA.

The joys of staff travel. The good and the bad.
Do you have a credit card, with a good balance?

Turkmenistan Airlines has a flight early on the 4th that gets you into LGW via ASB same day. $895,00 of uncertain currency but may be in J. GBP 319 a week later in Y.

Unless I’m told to buy commercial back - I would prefer to avoid the expense. As it the costs are prohibitively higher due to the situation. I’m already having to pay extra for hotels and food.

Turkmenistan from KUL? That’s an interesting route.

I have had that suggested to fly via India - I will check those out as an option.

Btw, I was on a staff ticket too. Load was full, but just about managed a seat.

Also would make sense to calculate and compare; which would be better from a price stand point. Assuming this continues for say a week- hotel cost for a week or paying for a rev ticket and getting back.

Wasn't an airline I was aware of until I saw one of their 777s in BKK a couple of years ago. Appears to be just the once-weekly connection to LGW. May be your best bet if you want to try the ~0400 departure in a few hours (for you).

KL is something of a dead end for long haul flights to Europe. I'm sure MH can get you to India, where you have a far better chance of direct and indirect flights back home. If you haven't got a visa, applying will kill off some of your spare time in KL 😂

Bali is probably not the best idea. I'm in Seminyak now, and there are plenty of stranded folk hanging around here waiting.....

Take a look at the mainland Chinese airlines. They often offer relatively cheap connections to Europe and it might even be a shorter journey time since they can overfly Russia and avoid all the action around the Middle East. I believe British citizens now get visa-free entry into China.

What about flights from BKK?

How did you get back in the end?

I flew to Sydney via Bali, then into Hawai’i then San Francisco and then back.

I’m going back to Asia in 2 weeks so I’ve reluctantly booked an expensive economy Finnair flight to Singapore as they seem to be reliable.