Qantas refuses to carry coffin
A report by the ABC says that Australia’s funeral directors are demanding an investigation into the refusal by Qantas to transport a man’s body for a funeral and cremation.
An Alice Springs woman has described the torment she went through when Qantas banned her from flying her husband’s body to Melbourne because of an embargo it was imposing on carrying coffins on its B-737s.
Qantas says it’s a safety issue, but as it’s the only airline flying to Alice Springs, it’s left bereaved families with no choice but to transport bodies by road, as Anne Barker reports.
Alfred Kastner died unexpectedly and his wife Irmgard said his last wish was to be cremated, but with no crematorium in Alice Springs, the family arranged to fly his body to Melbourne where their children live, but at the last minute, she was told Qantas had banned coffins on its B-737 aircraft – the only plane that connects Alice to the southeastern states.
Mrs Kastner said that she was pretty disgusted and just felt that because Qantas is the monopoly here they seem to be able to do whatever they like. There was no compassion, there was no respect, there was no caring and well, sorry you need your husband down there to be cremated and there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s your problem to see how you get him down.
She also said that Qantas did not give you any personal explanation and trucking companies, too, won’t routinely carry bodies to or from Alice Springs.
So at huge expense, the funeral parlour diverted one of its own trucks 3,000 kilometres to pick up Alfred Kastner’s body and transport it to Melbourne, adding $3,000 to the funeral bill.
She said, “It was just really, for the whole family, just so upsetting and so unreasonable that I don’t know, that’s shouldn’t be happening to anybody else.” “Somebody needs to do something, you’d hate to be a tourist in Alice Springs and die, and they might have to get you to a different country – how?”
Qantas has introduced an embargo on carrying coffins on certain 737s because of safety issues, and until they’re resolved with the manufacturer Boeing, they’ve had to restrict coffins to other aircraft.
The Australian Funeral Directors Association says without the option of trucks the only other alternative is to transport coffins by bus, with the Association’s immediate past president, Clayton Scott, saying that too is hardly a long-term solution, with nearly 24 hours of travelling and stoping and starting, and it’s, it’s not the ideal scenario.
The Australian Funeral Directors Association certainly want the matter rectified urgently, and we have corresponded with Qantas and to date we have had no correspondence back.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt