Flying to India or beyond?

Checks to make before you even leave Australia

A lot of overseas trips start with a simple plan: sort the annual leave, book the flights, and pack the bags, hoping to deal with the rest later. That approach can fall apart quickly when routes change, airports shut with little warning, or an insurance policy turns out to cover less than expected. Smartraveller, the Australian Government’s free travel advisory service, provides advice for over 175 destinations and guides travellers on how they can remain safe and informed throughout their journeys.

Check the advice for your transit destinations

For many people travelling from Australia to India, Europe or elsewhere, the first risk is not the final destination but the route itself. The conflict in the Middle East has caused widespread fuel shortages, cancellations and broader travel disruptions, and those impacts can affect travellers even when their destination is nowhere near the region.

Smartraveller advice levels reflect the risks for Australian travellers to a destination. Level 4 “Do not travel” means you should not travel to this location due to a high risk of death, imprisonment, kidnapping or serious injury. Level 3 “Reconsider your need to travel” means you should avoid non-essential travel due to serious and potentially life-threatening risks. Smartraveller also warns that even transiting you should follow travel advice, because airports may be targeted, airspace can close, and you may be unable to leave.

Take Raj from Melbourne, an IT consultant flying to Mumbai with a stopover in Dubai. With tensions in the Middle East affecting air routes and travel advice, Raj checked Smartraveller’s guidance before locking everything in. What looked like a routine layover started to look different once he realised that transit points carried their own level of risk. The saving on the ticket no longer felt quite so clever once he weighed it against the uncertainty.

Secure the right travel insurance

Insurance is one of the most important travel essentials that many people skip. Medical emergencies and flight changes can happen anywhere, at any time. It is important to have travel insurance, even if you are travelling to a known destination, flying with a known airline, or staying with family and friends.

When buying travel insurance, check if your policy covers:

• Flight delays and cancellations
• Lost luggage and baggage
• Changes to travel advice levels
• Medical expenses for both existing conditions and medical emergencies

It’s important to note that insurance may not cover you during travel to, or while transiting through a ‘Do not travel’ destination.

Keep an eye out for fuel-related disruptions

Fuel-related disruption is another check that people underestimate because it sounds distant until it affects their own booking. Smartraveller warns that global fuel supply challenges can affect flights, local transport and essential services, and that new measures can be introduced at short notice. In real terms, one delayed flight can easily become a missed connection, an extra hotel night, a rewritten itinerary and a trip that costs far more than first planned.

The Khannas from Parramatta, Sydney, thought they had built a manageable school holiday trip, with a family function in Delhi and a domestic connection soon after landing. On paper, the schedule looked tight but doable. Once their international flight was rescheduled, everything that followed came under pressure. Their problem was not only the first flight. It was the chain reaction that followed: onward bookings, timing-sensitive plans and the possibility of paying out of pocket just to keep the rest of the journey on track. Smartraveller recommends that people should read official Smartraveller advice for both their destination and transit points and subscribe for updates. They also suggest monitoring local and international news and following the social media of the relevant Australian embassy or consulate to stay up to date on the latest news.

Stay alert in crowded places

Another issue that sounds minor until it happens is petty crime in busy tourist and transit areas. You should stay alert in crowded places, on public transport and in tourist-heavy zones. For people travelling with children, elderly parents, multiple bags, or long stopovers, this can become a bigger issue than they expect. Stay alert, keep valuables close, and do not assume a crowded public space is automatically safe.

For Neha in Wentworthville, Sydney, the pressure point came after a long flight, while managing hand luggage, a phone, travel documents and a tired child in a busy transit space. That is exactly the kind of moment when people become less aware of what is happening around them. Not because they are careless, but because they are stretched. In practice, staying safe in transit often comes down to very ordinary habits: knowing where valuables are, keeping documents close, and not assuming a crowded public space is automatically safe.

This article has been developed in partnership with Smartraveller.gov.au.