Chinese warships started live-fire drills 30 minutes before Virgin mid ...

Defence and aviation experts have expressed alarm that air safety authorities only learnt about Chinese war ships conducting live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea 30 minutes after they began thanks to a midair alert by a Virgin Australia pilot rather than through official channels.

As Airservices Australia revealed that 49 commercial flights were forced to divert their plans because of the surprise Chinese military drills on Friday, the authority’s bosses told Senate hearings they first thought the Virgin pilot tip off may have been a hoax.

With Defence officials to be grilled about the issue on Wednesday, the revelations have drawn accusations of a serious communications breakdown between government agencies and the Australian Defence Force (ADF), as well as questions about whether the Albanese government downplayed the incident.

The ADF revealed on Tuesday that the flotilla of three Chinese ships had re-entered Australia’s exclusive economic zone in the early hours of the morning, and had been observed 160 nautical miles (296 kilometres) east of Hobart.

“Australia expects all militaries operating in the region to engage transparently, maintain the highest standards of safety and professionalism, and we encourage all states to maintain open communication to ensure their actions support regional security and stability,” the ADF said.

“We respect the right of all states under international law to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace, just as we expect others to respect our right to do the same.”

The three Chinese People’s Liberation Army vessels – a Jiangkai-class frigate, a cruiser and a replenishment vessel – have now been operating near Australia for over a fortnight after working their way down the east coast.

Commenting on the revelations from Airservices Australia, Shadow defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said: “There are two realities: either the Prime Minister and his Deputy are not across their national security brief, or they have been dishonest with the Australian people. Which is it?”

Hastie said Defence Minister Richard Marles had assured Australians on Saturday there would be no further flight disruptions, but Airservices Australia officials confirmed that diversions continued through to Monday.

“This is more dishonest politics from a Labor government that is playing down a serious national security matter to protect their own electoral standing,” Hastie said.

Airservices Australia’s chief executive Rob Sharp told estimates his organisation only found out the Chinese were planning a live-firing exercise at 9.58am on Friday, half an hour after it began.

“It was, in fact, Virgin Australia advising that a foreign warship was broadcasting that they were conducting live firing 300 nautical miles east of our coast,” Sharp said. “That was how we first found out about the issue.”

Deputy chief executive Peter Curran said the drill was conducted at a “relatively busy time of the day”, forcing 49 aircraft to change their flight paths, including some that were already in the air.

“There are a number of flight paths that go from Sydney across to various places in New Zealand and from Brisbane, they converge to the south-east there,” Curran said.

Former senior defence official Michael Shoebridge said he was “astounded” by the revelations.

The ADF was either in the dark about the Chinese exercise until after it began or had failed to alert air safety authorities, he said.

“This looks like an abject failure of the government’s promise to comprehensively monitor these extremely capable Chinese warships as well as a failure of inter-agency, inter-departmental communication,” he said.

“And that has been compounded by false assurances from the Prime Minister down. As an air travelling Australian I am not filled with confidence about our nation’s surveillance and monitoring abilities.”

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “Australian Defence were certainly aware and I’ve spoken with the chief of the defence force about what has occurred.

“Australia has had frigates both monitoring by sea and by air ... of these Chinese vessels.”

A Defence spokesperson said: “Defence is aware of Task Group 107 advising by verbal radio broadcast on a civil aircraft channel of its intent on 21 February 2025 to conduct live firing activity in the Tasman Sea, 346 nautical miles (640 kilometres) off Eden.

“The Australian Government has raised its concern with the lack of notice on the live fire activity from the Chinese Government, including through appropriate channels in Canberra and Beijing.”

Aviation expert Keith Tonkin, a former Qantas and Royal Australian Air Force pilot, said the Chinese navy should have used a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) to warn airlines that they would be conducting a live-firing exercise in the area, an estimated 640 kilometres from the NSW South Coast in international waters.

“To have something like this popping up during the middle of a flight is not ideal,” he said, adding the situation could become dangerous depending on the type of firing activity.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said there were serious questions for the Australian and NZ defence forces to answer.

“On face value it is staggering that Australia’s first line of surveillance against potential aggressors appears to be commercial pilots and their confrères in Airservices Australia,” she said.

“Even more astonishing is the speed at which our Prime Minister sought to explain away Chinese navy action as being ‘in accordance with practice’.

“It is clear that the Chinese navy has no intention of acting according to international practice, which requires notice be given precisely so appropriate safety protocols can be enacted in a timely manner.”

Greens defence spokesman told the ABC the Chinese navy had behaved in a “reckless and provocative” way, saying it was not the behaviour of a friendly nation.

Defence officials on Friday told reporters the Chinese military informed Australian authorities that morning it would be conducting live-fire exercises later that day, prompting the speedy establishment of an 18-kilometre airspace protection zone up to a height of 13,000 metres.

The officials said they believed around three flights had been affected by the exercise.

While the exercises did not breach international law, Australian officials said the Australian navy would typically give 24 to 48 hours’ notice of similar exercises, and would avoid areas with significant commercial air and sea travel.

The federal government requested additional information from the Chinese defence attaché in Canberra and with authorities in Beijing.

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