Australia's defense forces, joined by New Zealand, have been monitoring Chinese navy vessels since they were spotted last week.

Virgin Australia and Emirates aircraft heard the Chinese flotilla's radio notification about a live-firing test off the Australian coast last Friday.

Australia learned about Chinese live-fire naval drills off the country’s coast that forced dozens of flights to be diverted via an alert from a commercial pilot, authorities said on Monday.

Dozens of commercial flights had to change course last week when they were surprised by Chinese naval drills off the coast of Australia. But China said its navy repeatedly issued notices.Some 49 commercial flights were forced to change course last Friday when Chinese warships unexpectedly announced naval drills off the eastern coast of Australia,

Dozens of commercial flights were forced to change course when Chinese warships unexpectedly announced live-fire drills off eastern Australia last week, officials have told a government hearing. Curran said 49 commercial flights were forced to divert around the live firing zone once it became apparent the warning was legitimate.