{babes} Travolta cuts short Australia visit as wife goes into labour

SYDNEY (AFP) – Hollywood star John Travolta cut short a visit to Australia to fly his private jet home to the United States after his wife Kelly Preston went into early labour, his host said.

Travolta, 56, had been due to appear at an event for national flag carrier Qantas in Perth on Sunday but had to jet out of Sydney after news that Preston, 48, was about to give birth, an airline spokesman said.

"He's on the way back to the States because his wife's gone into labour," the spokesman told AFP. "His priority was always obviously his wife's pregnancy and we completely respect that."

The "Pulp Fiction" and "Saturday Night Fever" star is a celebrity ambassador for Qantas and also a professional pilot.

Travolta and Preston, who have been married since 1991, were plunged into mourning in January 2009 when their autistic eldest child, Jett, 16, died from a seizure during a family holiday in the Bahamas.

Travolta and Preston also have a daughter, Ella Bleu, 10.