Traveller fined $5000 after trying to flee Melbourne Airport

A traveller who arrived in Melbourne ahead of the state’s latest lockdown and tried to ‘leg it’ has received a whopping fine for the bizarre move.

A traveller who arrived in Melbourne ahead of the state’s lockdown and tried to flee the airport has been whacked with a whopping fine.

The mystery passenger, who reportedly arrived from the Sunshine Coast, arrived at Melbourne Airport on Wednesday night.

“I am certainly aware we had an incident at the airport on Wednesday night where somebody came on an arriving flight and was stopped by authorised officers and sought to abscond,” Victoria’s Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said on Saturday.

Covid-19 Commander Jeroen Weimar said the traveller tried to run away from the airport. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Paul Jeffers

They were caught within the airport and hit with a $5000 fine, he told reporters.

“The individual … sought to try and leg it away from the authorities and was detained further down the road,” Mr Weimar said.

He said there was more than 90 per cent compliance and authorities were checking every single person who was coming off red or orange zone flights.

“We will turn people back who are not entitled to be in the state and put people into quarantine should that be necessary,” he said.

Further details about the unknown traveller are expected to be revealed tomorrow.

The state recorded 19 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases on Saturday as the number of public exposure sites ballooned to more than 160 overnight.