Qantas could dispatch a raft of special flights to help retrieve tens of thousands of stranded Chinese students as soon as the coronavirus travel ban is lifted under a drastic plan being considered by the university sector.

The federal government extended the China travel ban for another week on Thursday, further narrowing the window for 100,000 students to begin their first semester studies in Australia.

Qantas could be part of an emergency effort to retrieve tens of thousands of Chinese students. Credit:AAP

Universities and the government are moving to make sure flights can quickly start operating again should the ban be lifted in time for students to practicably join in the first semester. The backlog would test the capacity of airlines and government immigration and quarantine processes.

Qantas is moving to have aircraft available if students are given the green light. The Australian airline's flights to China are currently suspended until March 29 and the major Chinese airlines have also had flights grounded following the COVID-19 outbreak, which originated in China's Hubei province in December and has so far infected over 75,000 people worldwide and killed over 2000.