Several international flights have been delayed in recent weeks because of last-minute changes by SpaceX for its rockets returning to Earth.
Qantas, Australia's largest airline, said today that passengers on a number of its Sydney to Johannesburg flights were made to endure delays of up to six hours after the US government warned of the re-entry of SpaceX rockets over the southern Indian Ocean.
The carrier's operations chief Ben Holland said in a statement on Tuesday that the "timing of recent launches have moved around at late notice which has meant we've had to delay some flights just prior to departure".
He added: "We're in contact with SpaceX to see if they can refine the areas and time windows for the rocket re-entries to minimise future disruption."
This week SpaceX is looking to carry out another flight test for its massive Starship rocket, which in October achieved a major milestone as a reusable Super Heavy booster rocket successfully returned to earth and was caught by giant robotic arms, known as "chopsticks".