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Map reveals Qantas flight's 'frustrating' move for passengers

There was undoubtedly an air of frustration on board a chartered Qantas flight after the aircraft was forced to fly back to Perth airport despite having just 150km of a 1100km trip to go.

The QF1354 flight to Ginbata in northern Western Australia on Tuesday was agonisingly close to its final destination but was forced to return to Perth after the cockpit detected a minor engineering issue, a Qantas spokesperson confirmed to Yahoo News Australia.

Passengers spent three-and-a-half hours in the air before landing where they took off, Flightradar24 data shows.

Ginbata airport serves the Roy Hill iron ore mine, with Qantas securing the contract to transport its fly-in fly-out workers in 2013.

A map shows the route of the plane (left) and Qantas aircraft on the tarmac (right)
The Qantas flight was close to its destination Ginbata but due to a minor engineering issue, it had to return to Perth. Source: Flightradar24/ Getty

"The flight landed safely (in Perth) and without incident, and passengers were offered accommodation and meal vouchers," the spokesperson said.

Engineers checked the aircraft which has since been cleared to fly. Passengers have since been rescheduled to fly today.

The plane's flight path was shared to social media, with some users sympathising with the passengers.

"That's gotta be frustrating as a passenger. I mean, it happens, but s*** ay," one person wrote.

"S****y on (the) passengers," another said.

Many speculated airlines are reluctant to send engineers to regional areas as it can be "pretty expensive and much more time consuming".

One person suggested planes being forced to return regardless of how close they were to their destination was not as uncommon as you may think.

While the flightpath was likely an unwanted inconvenience for workers on the flight, it was a different story earlier this year when Qantas passengers were treated with an impromptu trip over Uluru.

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