Federal government announces 20 more chartered flights to bring stranded Australians home

The additional repatriation flights will come from priority locations around the world and will be in addition to current traveller caps.

Health officials wait for Australians stranded in India to disembark a Qantas plane at Canberra Airport in May. Source: AAP

The federal government will charter another 20 flights to bring home Australians stranded overseas.

The decision follows international air carrier Emirates' move to suspend its flights to Australia's east coast, frustrating desperate expats.

The repatriation flights will come from priority locations around the world and will be in addition to current traveller caps, Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham said on Saturday.

Caps on international arrivals in NSW, Western Australia and Queensland have been halved until mid-February, so the chartered flights would land in the Northern Territory, Canberra and Tasmania on a case-by-case basis, he said.