Thousands of Australians remain stranded across the world, in cities and airports and on cruise ships, trying to find a way home, as borders close and travel restrictions tighten.

The Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, has flagged the possibility of the national carrier running repatriation flights, sending its grounded planes and crews out to rescue Australians unable to get home.

Speaking on Melbourne radio 3AW, he said Qantas had hubs around the world and flew to every continent, so it was “theoretically possible” to get everyone home.

“Because of the bans in and out of Australia, we have no demand for our international operations past the end of March. We still have the aircraft, we still have the people, and if we can find locations where there are enough Australians to get them back on an aircraft, and the government believes that exists, then we will do that.”

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The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, said there were “literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Australians overseas” at any time, and consular officials were trying to assist citizens and residents home.

In Peru, the number of Australians who have registered trying to get home has reached more than 240. Most are in the capital, Lima, and the highlands city of Cusco, but others are in remote parts of the country such as the desert oasis Huacachina or the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu.

The Peruvian government has imposed a nationwide curfew from 8pm to 5am and internal travel is prohibited, except in emergencies or with official permission. Some of the Australians in Peru have serious health issues that will complicate efforts to repatriate them.

Australians in Peru have stressed to the Guardian they have no criticism of the Peruvian government for its actions in trying to stop the spread of Covid-19, but say they have been frustrated by the limited options, and limited information, presented by the Australian government.

Currently, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s advice is for Australians to try to make a booking on a commercial charter flight set to leave Lima next week. An economy seat on that flight will cost $5,160 and many have said they cannot afford a ticket, the cost is especially prohibitive for travelling family groups. Despite the price, the flight is already oversubscribed.

Charter company Chimu Adventures said it had been working with Dfat and Australian embassies across South America to try to prepare repatriation flights. Australian diplomats are also likely to be on the flights back to Sydney. The first flights are expected to leave early next week.

“Given the demand, we may be adding additional flights from Lima, Buenos Aires and potentially Santiago,” the company said. “We’re also investigating options to have connecting domestic flights to help repatriate clients on cruise ships off the coast of South America.”

In a note to Australians in Peru, Chimu said the the cost of flights was high because “you’re essentially paying for return flights given that the aircraft will need to return to South America. This will also include government-sanctioned transfers from your current place of residence to the airport and all other fees around having the airport open for this flight.”

Anne and Craig Dorrington, from Mona Vale in NSW, said they have been trapped in Quito by the government-ordered shutdown of Ecuador’s borders, and closure of hotels, shops and other essential services. Both are aged in their 60s and are fearful they could be trapped, or left homeless.



“We need urgent help getting out of Ecuador as this country is in lockdown and it is not a safe place to be,” Anne Dorrington wrote.



“The hotel has been told that they need to close down so then we will have nowhere to go. There is nobody in the streets, the military are pushing people back in their homes. Shops are closed, there is no food, no street access.



“We need information as to what we can do and can’t do. We don’t speak Spanish.”



The Dorringtons’ family say they have been trying to contact the Australian consulate and the department of foreign and trade in Canberra, but have not been able to get any assistance for the couple.

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Passengers onboard the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship, currently in the Pacific, have not been allowed to disembark in ports in Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand and now Hawaii. Health officials in Hawaii said the island state did not have the resources to treat anybody who might be carrying or contract Covid-19.

About 1700 passengers are onboard, about 270 of them Australian and nearly 40 from New Zealand. The ship may need to sail to Miami in order to dock – at least a fortnight by sea.

Whenever new destinations are announced onboard, there has been a rush on the ship’s computers to book new flights, which have to be subsequently cancelled when disembarking is refused. Some onboard the ship have complex medical conditions, including cancer, while others have reported they have exhausted their credit cards trying to book new flights home which they cannot take.

Concert pianist Ambre Hammond is performing onboard the ship and said people understood that Covid-19 was a global crisis but there was growing frustration at being turned away from port after port.

She told the Guardian she would keep performing, “to do all I can through my music to keep up the spirits of the passengers on the ship”.

“My despair is due to the fact my beautiful 17-year-old daughter, who expected me to be heading home tomorrow, is home alone waiting for me. She has family friends to stay with but the hollowness of not knowing when I’ll see her next is very real right now.”

Hammond said passengers and crew had been worn out by the emotional “rollercoaster” of promised destinations and dashed hopes. “It’s the not knowing and the uncertainty that is troubling. Yes we are safe, yes we are virus free on this ship and yes for now we are fine with food and supplies, but we are a band of people all with the same sole desire ... to be able to set foot on land once more.”

More than 59 Australians are stranded onboard the Azamara Pursuit cruise ship that sailed from Buenos Aires on 2 March and was set to dock in Lima next week. The ship was prevented from docking in Chile and is currently at anchor off Valparaiso, Chile. It will be refuelled and resupplied remotely and the ship may also sail for Miami to allow passengers to disembark.

And 350 Australians are onboard the Norwegian Spirit off the coast of Madagascar. The ship has been refused docking in the Seychelles, at Reunion Island and Mauritius, and will now sail for Cape Town in the hope passengers will be permitted to disembark there.

There are 94 Australian guests onboard L’Austral, at the end of a 15-night journey to Antarctica and South Georgia Island. The ship is currently en route to Rio de Janeiro and expecting to arrive on 23 March.

Ponant, which owns the ship, is working with Brazilian authorities to obtain approval to dock and for passengers to disembark. There are no suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19 onboard L’Austral.

Another ship, Roald Amundsen, on an Antarctic expedition with more than 100 Australian doctors and medical professionals onboard, has found itself similarly at sea after Chile stopped accepting cruise ships for docking.