NSW will ban Victorian passenger flights from landing in regional airports as part of a plan to divert air traffic from coronavirus hotspots to Sydney for mandatory quarantine.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Wagga airport receives incoming flights from Victoria directly and also via Albury and Sydney, with the number of services already reduced due to pandemic restrictions.
From Friday, Sydney Airport will be the only point of entry to NSW from people travelling inbound from Victoria, unless they live in border region communities.
A Qantas spokesperson said the airline would continue to run its current daily flight from Wagga to Sydney, which is required to access its other services to and from Melbourne.
The Regional Express airlines has been contacted for comment, as well as Wagga City Council, which operates Wagga airport.
Any person entering or returning to NSW will face a mandatory 14 days in quarantine in Sydney at their own expense, unless they can make a case for a financial hardship exemption.
Special permits will also be available to skip quarantine for workers in critical industries such as health, mining, defence, child protection and disability care.
Victoria recorded 725 new COVID-19 cases and 15 deaths overnight, including a man aged in his 30s, and a Wagga family of four are in isolation after they tested positive following a trip to Melbourne.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Wednesday afternoon that the government would take additional steps from midnight on Friday morning given the state was at a "critical stage of the pandemic".
"In view of the health advice, in view of the escalating situation in Victoria, the NSW government today has decided, based on the evolving health situation and the health advice, to ensure and require that every returning traveller from Victoria is in the mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine when they get to Sydney Airport.
"We are also mandating that no-one can come to NSW outside of those border communities that's defined in the public health orders, but for Sydney Airport. We don't want to see multiple places where returning travellers are coming. And we also feel, given the evolving situation in Victoria has been going on for some weeks, that - that people do that at their own expense.
"There should be no difference from a NSW citizen coming back from an overseas destination in terms of the cost having to pay versus the cost of returning travellers from Victoria. Of course, there are always exceptions to hardship if people can't afford to pay, but we will consider those."
READ MORE:
Anyone flying into the state from Victoria must be an NSW resident or have a valid permit.
People who can apply for a permit include:
- defence officials
- doctors and nurses
- critical workers in energy, mining and construction
- child protection workers
- disability workers.
Anyone without a permit will be referred to the NSW Police and taken to special accommodation to complete 14 days of quarantine.
Any NSW residents returning home must follow new instructions for travelling home to self-isolate.
The new instructions include:
- avoid using public transport to get home from the airport. Get collected by family or friends in a private car
- sit in the back seat of the car with the windows down. Do not use air conditioning in recirculation mode
- wear face masks and observe hand hygiene recommendations.