More than 20 FIFO charter and scheduled passenger flights have been cancelled within WA today as the four-day Perth and Peel lockdown kicks in.
Over 40 flights departed up to 9am this morning, however all had lighter passenger loads with only essential workers now allowed to travel outside the metropolitan and Peel regions.
The resources industry, as it did earlier this year, is extending the swing shifts of some workers on site while sending surplus staff back to Perth.
The airlines are expecting that over the next two days there will be more FIFO charter cancellations.
Premier Mark McGowan last night ordered that only those FIFO workers deemed essential to operations could fly to sites from while staff already on-site were asked to extend their swings until the end of the lockdown period on Friday night.
It comes after a worker at Newmont’s remote Granites gold mine in the Tanami desert tested positive to COVID-19 after being exposed the virus during quarantine at a Brisbane hotel while en-route to the mine from regional Victoria.
Seven positive COVID cases have now been linked to the mine site and 252 off-swing WA FIFO workers from there have been forced into isolation and told to get urgently tested.
Of particular concern were the results of 177 workers who are considered close contacts of the infected man.
Hundreds of others that have flown into other states have also been sent into home isolation with the 754 still at the mine isolating on-site.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA Chief Executive Paul Everingham said the four-day lockdown would have an impact on FIFO movements.
“WA Government directions stipulate that only employees critical to “ongoing operations” will be allowed to travel outbound from Perth/Peel. This will likely result in slightly longer shift rosters for those currently on site.
“Industry is limiting people movement in to and out of the Perth-Peel area to the bare minimum to protect worker and community safety.”
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