The unplanned stop at Canberra to refuel turned into a four-hour wait for the fuel truck to arrive. By the time the plane was ready to take off again Sydney airport's 11pm curfew was in force, prompting Qantas to apply to the Department of Transport for special dispensation to land. It was refused. The airline kept passengers on board until 5.30am yesterday, in anticipation of the airport's curfew ending at 6am. By that time the cabin crew had already exceeded their maximum shift time and a new crew was called in.

Shortly before 6am the airline made a decision to book hotel rooms for passengers for the four hours before the plane could take off. They were processed by a single Customs officer in Canberra. "It was a nightmare," said Francis Chippeck, who travelled with her daughter, Ava, 2, from Singapore. "The plane was hot and sticky and I ran out of nappies at about 1am. "They gave me two extras but by yesterday morning I was down to the last one and I had to say to her, 'You better not poo."'

Ronald Ross and his four children, aged 4 to 15, joined the Qantas flight on Friday morning after travelling from London the day before. By the time they arrived in Sydney the family had spent 72 hours on planes and waiting at airports. "The whole time we were on there they only gave us two biscuits and a bottle of water," he said.

"The crew were great but the only thing that annoyed me was that I had four children and I asked them if we could get them off the plane first and in the end we were the last to get off." Other passengers commended the Qantas cabin crew, saying some of the stewards offered their own mobile phones for people to call their families to tell them of their delays. But one passenger, who asked only to be identified as Martin, said the crew were forced to ration everything on board throughout the night. "I had to ask for toilet paper," he said. "They only gave me four sheets."

A Qantas spokeswoman said: "The aircraft stopped at Singapore from Europe so there wouldn't have been [resources] left on board, anyway." She said it was not possible to get extra supplies on board at Canberra. "Canberra's not set up to service a 747 - they don't normally land there; it's not an international airport."

A Department of Transport spokesman did not respond to questions about why it denied Qantas dispensation to break the curfew.