Jetstar flights from Avalon scheduled to ramp up
Flights between Avalon Airport and Sydney are scheduled to resume in the coming weeks after the service was suspended due to the NSW outbreak and border closures.
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Flights between Avalon Airport and Sydney are scheduled to resume after the service was suspended due to the New South Wales coronavirus outbreak.
Jetstar has scheduled the flights from January 31, but is initially set to run less services than usual.
It’s understood flight numbers will depend on travel restrictions, with Greater Sydney still considered a “red zone” by the Victorian Government.
However, the state government has indicated changes to travel restrictions placed on Sydney could be imminent.
Just days after they recommenced, flights between Sydney and Avalon were suspended in December due to the NSW outbreak.
Meanwhile, flights between Avalon and the Gold Coast, currently running at four per week each way, are set to become daily at the beginning of February.
And flights between Adelaide and Avalon Airport are expected to start in the first week of February.
A Jetstar spokeswoman said the airline will continue to monitor demand in line with border restrictions.
Avalon Airport chief executive Justin Giddings welcomed the increasing activity.
“I’m really itching for Sydney flights to recommence,” he said.
Mr Giddings said the airport had already experienced multiple false starts as outbreaks and restrictions forced flight changes.
“It’s well beyond our control,” he said.
“It hasn’t been close to normality yet.
“For a while where there’ll be some uncertainty and we’ll have to be adaptable.”
The increasing flights come as Premier Daniel Andrews over the weekend announced more Victorians would be able to return home with updated health advice allowing for additional easing of border restrictions.
Mr Andrews and chief health officer Brett Sutton announced that, due to the reduced exposure risk and low community transmission in Brisbane, Queensland red zone local government areas would transition to orange, allowing Victorians in those areas to return home if they wanted to.
The changes mean anyone in Greater Brisbane wanting to travel to Victoria can apply for a permit.
Travel from an orange zone requires people to self-isolate, get tested within 72 hours of arrival and remain in isolation until they receive a negative result.
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Travellers must also confirm they have not been in a currently listed red zone within the past 14 days, have not been in close contact with a coronavirus case and do not have any COVID-19 symptoms.
Exemption applications from the local government areas of Greater Brisbane will no longer be required.
If Victorians have been in a Sydney red zone they will still need to make an exemption application.
“We’re monitoring the situation every single day and we will not keep zones red for a moment longer then needed,” Mr Andrews said.
“We’ll continue to review Greater Sydney and will hopefully have more to say soon.”
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