Civilian aircraft were warned to avoid the airspace over the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand after Chinese military vessels conducted exercises with live weapons in the area.
As a result, at least three commercial flights altered their routes.
The Australian regulator, Airservices Australia, proactively alerted pilots of potential dangers in the airspace, while New Zealand's national carrier, Air New Zealand, stated that it "changed flight paths to avoid the area."
Following the warning, representatives from Australian defense agencies expressed uncertainty about whether live-fire exercises were taking place at sea. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that the danger had already passed.
"There was no immediate threat to Australian or New Zealand assets," he told reporters.
Australian and New Zealand naval vessels, along with P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft, monitored three Chinese military ships — the frigate Hengyang, the cruiser Zunyi, and the replenishment ship Weishanhu — over several days.
The presence of the Chinese fleet in the Tasman Sea is seen as a demonstration of its growing size and capabilities, though the ships rarely venture this far south.
"Pilots often encounter obstacles to safe navigation, whether it’s military exercises like these or other events such as missile launches, space debris, or volcanic eruptions. It’s a large area of ocean, and one might think they could park somewhere less inconvenient while flexing their muscles," said Steve Cornell, a representative of the Australian and International Pilots Association.
Anthony Albanese remarked that the Chinese exercises were legitimate and occurring in international waters outside Australia’s exclusive economic zone.
Country's Foreign Minister Penny Wong told ABC that the presence of Chinese vessels in Australian waters is an evolving situation, and she would be "discussing this with the Chinese."
"We have already discussed at an official level the issue of notification and transparency regarding these exercises, especially live-fire exercises," she added.
This incident followed another that occurred last week in the South China Sea, when a Chinese fighter jet fired warning flares in front of an Australian military aircraft.