Covid-19: Charter flights bring 3000 Aussies home

Twenty government-chartered planes returned nearly 3000 Australians during May and June of this year with repatriation flights expected to significantly increase in August.

Airbus airplanes on the tarmac in Toulouse. Picture: AFP

Nearly 3000 Australians ­returned home aboard 20 government-chartered planes in May and June, with the number of repatriation flights expected to significantly increase in ­August despite national cabinet agreeing to halve the travel cap amid a spike in Delta cases.

Since the beginning of the pandemic more than 638,000 Australians have returned, with 21,900 passengers travelling on 147 government-chartered flights. But as the number of foreign arrivals was halved to 3034 a week from Wednesday, more than 34,000 people remain stranded overseas.

The slashing of arrival caps was a win for the Victorian, West Australian and Queensland governments, which had been pushing for a decrease until more of the population was vaccinated. While the restrictions are set to be reviewed at the end of next month, Scott Morrison has indicated they will be in place until at least the end of the year.

A DFAT spokesman said the priority remained helping vulnerable Australians return home. “DFAT continues to work hard to assist Australians return by helping them to access scheduled commercial flights within passenger caps and through ­organising facilitated commercial flights, prioritising vulnerable Australians,” he said.

When announcing the cuts earlier this month Mr Morrison said the government planned to help offset the cuts by increasing repatriation flights and people quarantining at Howard Springs.

“Where we will lose some ­capacity for inbound flights of those coming back through commercial flights, the commonwealth will directly seek to mitigate that by upping wherever possible those com­mercially facilitated flights that the commonwealth is pursuing,” he said.

It follows an agreement the Prime Minister struck with the Northern Territory in March to increase the capacity of Howard Springs from 850 a fortnight to 2000 by April or May.

The Australian understands flights will arrive from New Delhi, London and Istanbul into Howard Springs over the coming weeks and the government will continue to support repatriation flights through to the end of 2021. Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne has said 20 repatriation flights are planned between July and September.