The pictures from Brisbane are ominous as flood waters disrupt daily life in Australia's third largest city. Though the airport (BNE) has not been affected as badly, travelers are finding difficulty getting to their flights and holiday seekers are looking elsewhere. How are the area airlines reacting?

When travelers think of airlines and bad weather, not too many happy thoughts cross their minds. Europe and the northeastern United States have been particularly hard hit by weather disruptions to air travel. In the southern hemisphere, floods are playing havoc with Queenslanders and adding another dot on the global airline disruption map. In Rockhampton, the airport (ROK) will remain closed until 24 January due to severe flooding.

Rockhampton Airport under water. (photo courtesy: Rockhampton Airport Web site)

Qantas, Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways Australia have posted ticket change policies for flyers needing to cancel or change plans due to the floods. There are policies for both domestic and international carriers that serve Brisbane, but not all ticket change policies are similar or even apply in this case. Some airlines are allowing free ticket changes but the purchased-by dates may differ and the length of time permitted for making changes may also vary. In addition, several international carriers are taking a wait-and-see approach and are not offering a ticket change policy at this time. Information regarding the airlines that service Brisbane can be found using the following links:

• Qantas
• Tiger Airways
• Virgin Blue
• Air New Zealand
• Air Pacific
• Cathay Pacific
• Emirates
• Jetstar
• Pacific Blue
• Singapore Airlines

Lufthansa, Malaysia and Thai Airways do not yet spell out any ticket change policies due to the floods on their Web sites, but the latter two do have policies in place. Lufthansa will handle requests on a case-by-case basis. These airlines should be contacted directly by anyone wishing to change airline tickets for travel to or from Brisbane during the floods.