CORONAVIRUS —
REGIONAL FLIGHTS — GERALDTON
619. Mr I.C. BLAYNEY to the Minister for Transport:
Ever
prior to COVID-19, Geraldton had 16 return flight services a week to Perth.
Currently, there are only four a week. Is the minister aware of the
negative impact this restricted flight schedule is having on the Geraldton
community, including limited visitation by medical specialists, making it difficult
for patient assisted travel scheme patients to attend appointments, and
reducing business connections and access for workers?
Ms R.
SAFFIOTI replied:
I thank the member for Geraldton
for that question. As we all are aware, the aviation industry has been impacted
the most by the COVID pandemic —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Riverton and member for Churchlands, I call you both to order for the first
time. I have warned you about three times.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI: Whether it
has been the major airlines or the regional airlines, and whether it has been
the workers, who have also, of course, had a significant impact, the aviation
industry has been significantly impacted. We
are working with all the airlines and we will continue to work with all the
airlines. We are currently in a dialogue with those airlines about what
else can be done from both a tourism point of view and a residential community
point of view to support further flights and further accessibility of air
travel in Western Australia. We have seen some return to normality in some
parts of Western Australia, but we will continue to work on some areas and have
discussions with the airlines about how we can improve services. Affordable and
accessible air travel in WA has been our priority. We had already achieved a lot
before the pandemic, and we are trying to recover to be back where we were and
to improve both the accessibility and affordability of air travel in Western Australia.