Bedbugs found in plane's economy seats force Qantas airline to cancel flight

Qantas canceled a Rome-to-Perth flight after reports of bedbugs during an earlier segment of the trip, with the airline apologizing and ordering a deep clean of affected economy seats. Passengers on the nearly 17-hour journey from Perth to Rome, which took place after Oct. 9, told Sydney outlet The Sydney Morning Herald they were bitten. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Qantas said it canceled Saturday’s service so engineers and maintenance teams could disinfect the aircraft, after identifying issues on a “small number” of seats. A Boeing 787 Dreamliner was involved. Travelers described bugs crawling on belongings and clothing, and the crew ultimately ran out of antihistamines. After the Rome return flight scheduled for Oct. 10 was canceled, Qantas offered hotel accommodations and rebooking within 48 hours.