A COVID surge across Asia is wreaking havoc on the racing industry in Australia, with the virus causing a dire shortage of planes capable of transporting horses around the country.

Just days out from the Group 1 Queensland Derby at Eagle Farm, the transport saga will likely see leading Godolphin-trained chance Alegron unable to take his place in the race due to difficulties in flying to Queensland.

Cathay Pacific has axed its weekly Hong Kong to Melbourne service which, according to Air Horse Transport's Chris Calthorpe, has had major flow-on affects.

"It's basically caused by COVID in a nutshell. It's very restrictive, it's a whole different scenario from what it was even 18 months ago," Calthorpe said.

"Cathay Pacific used to come into Melbourne every Tuesday, and we used to go to Toowoomba every Tuesday, and that's been canned because COVID is supposedly rife in Hong Kong.

"The airlines are very protective of their crews, when they fly there's only two people on the plane, the captain and the first officer.

"A lot of the airlines if they can limit that interaction, there's still a lot of COVID going around and they've got to keep their network going. It's flowing down the food chain and affecting us."

Calthorpe says a resolution to the situation could be reached by the end of this week, but it will likely be too late for connections hoping to have horses run in Queensland this weekend.

"It's running out of time for a lot of people, it's been very frustrating," he said.

"By the end of this week hopefully we can have something in place, and we might be able to get a flight next week and the week after.

"They'll (airlines) do their best to help us out next week, but if anything changes, horses will be the first to go. They're not high on people's priority list."

The lack of flight options has seen prices soar for those fortunate enough to secure a spot on a plane.

"The costs have gone through the roof with fuel prices and everything, you're looking at the moment to pay $9000 to fly a horse from Melbourne to Brisbane," Calthorpe said.

And it isn't just a problem getting horses north, with flights across the Nullarbor also in short supply.

"At the moment you can go Perth to Melbourne, but you'll struggle to get horses back Melbourne to Perth," Calthorpe said.

"It's very much hit and miss at the moment, and it all seems to be misses."

South Australian trainer David Jolly has revealed transport issues as one reason why Behemoth will not travel to Queensland this winter, while Michael Kent Jnr shared those concerns regarding Lombardo's potential Stradbroke venture.

Meanwhile Perth-based trainer Dan Morton has also revealed difficulties in getting mare Kissonallforcheeks home to Western Australia due to the lack of flights.