Planes warned of hazard in Australia-NZ airspace over Chinese warship live fire exercise

Friday, 21 February 2025

Commercial pilots have been warned to avoid the airspace between Australia and New Zealand, where Chinese warships have been conducting live fire exercises on Friday.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) said earlier this week it was keeping close watch on three Chinese military ships which have been spotted just 150 nautical miles from Sydney after moving steadily down the east coast of Australia over recent days.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on ABC TV that she would discuss the live fire exercises with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi at the foreign ministers’ G20 meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“We already have [discussed this] at official level in relation to the notice given and the transparency provided in relation to these exercises, particularly the live fire exercises,” she said.

Defence sources said the live-firing event caused “significant disruption” due to the limited notice period and impact on commercial flights.

The sources said the Chinese military informed Australian authorities on Friday that they would be conducting training exercises 640 kilometres east of Eden on the NSW South Coast. An 18 kilometre airspace protection zone was put into effect up to 45,000 feet high.

Up to three commercial aircraft chose to divert their planned routes because of the ships’ activity, but this number was not confirmed.

Asked why Airservices Australia was telling commercial pilots not to fly over the area, Wong described the incident as ”an evolving situation”.

The ADF said in a statement on Wednesday night it was “monitoring the People’s Liberation Army-Navy Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, the Renhai-class cruiser named Zunyi and the Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu, which continue to operate to the east of Australia.”

The Defence Department and NZ Defence Department have been contacted for comment.

Defence Minister Richard Marles earlier said the government had deployed air and sea assets to shadow the Chinese ships, describing the flotilla’s behaviour as “unusual” but not necessarily unprecedented.

“They’re not a threat in the sense that they are engaging in accordance with international law,” he said, as the ships have not crossed into Australia’s territorial waters.

“Australia is also entitled to be prudent, and we are monitoring very closely what the activities of the task group are.”

Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie went further, saying: “Let’s call a spade a spade. The Chinese military has built a blue-water navy [capable of long-range operations] and are now testing us, along with other allies in the region.

“This is not just ‘unusual’ as the defence minister has played it down – it’s provocative.”