Kate Langbroek reveals her family may be stuck in Italy for Christmas due to lack of flights

Kate Langbroek is stuck in Bologna, Italy, where she has been with her husband and children since last year. 

The radio star is hoping she and her family can return to their native Melbourne by Christmas, but the pandemic has meant flights are limited and the route home is a complex one. 

The 55-year-old told the Hughsey and Ed show this week that Melbourne is accepting returning passengers on December 7th – however there’s a catch. 

‘Now we’re in the mad scrabble. We lost our flight so now we have to go back into the queue. 

The only thing we can hope for is that there are not many Australians leaving from Bologna. We might have to go to Milan,’ she said. 

There’s no assurance that the family will be able to fly, and having had flights cancelled before, they may face Christmas in Italy – or separated. 

Even then, there are just 160 people being accepted per day – less than a plane full, meaning the family of six is likely to have to split up and take different planes. 

‘Yesterday we got a message saying you can’t travel together the six of you but we can probably get you three people on a flight, if you’re ready to leave tomorrow,’ she said. 

Even once the family do get on a plane, the route home is a ‘mess’ Kate told the radio show. 

‘There’s complicated routes like coming back via Auckland and do your quarantine in Auckland and then fly into Brisbane. The whole thing is a mess!’ she said.    

Kate and her husband of 17 years, Peter, relocated to Bologna with their four children, Lewis, Sunday, Artie and Jan, in January 2019.

It was supposed to be a ‘family gap year’, but they decided to extend the break for an additional 12 months before coronavirus was declared a pandemic.