Regional Western Australians can now access affordable capped airfares when travelling to and from Perth – with the McGowan Government’s Australian-first scheme taking flight from today.
Delivering on a major election commitment, regional residents will no longer be confronted with excessive and unaffordable airfares when travelling to and from Perth.
Regional residents departing an airport within 1,000 kilometres driving distance from Perth will now pay no more than $199 for a one-way flight both ways when booked as a return flight.
This includes Albany, Carnarvon, Esperance, Geraldton, Monkey Mia (Denham), Wiluna, Kalgoorlie, Laverton, Leonora, Meekatharra and Mount Magnet.
Regional residents departing from an airport more than 1,000km driving distance from Perth will now pay no more than $299 for a one-way flight both ways when booked as a return flight.
This includes Broome, Karratha, Newman, Port Hedland, Exmouth (Learmonth), Kununurra and Paraburdoo.
The initiative is a partnership between the McGowan Government and Airnorth, Qantas, Rex, Skippers Aviation and Virgin Australia, with the McGowan Government committing $19.8 million towards the scheme over the next three years.
Capped airfares will help ease the burden of regional travel costs by making sure regional Western Australians are able to get to and from Perth at a fair price.
Prohibitively high air travel costs have long been a concern for regional communities, with airfares previously rising as high as $1,000 one-way for some country destinations.
To access the capped fares, regional residents need to first sign up to the respective airline programs and then book a return fare departing from their region.
The McGowan Government has made addressing the cost of regional airfares a priority, and has consulted extensively with regional communities and airlines to deliver this important initiative.
The McGowan Government’s delivery of the Parliamentary Inquiry into regional airfares, a 2017 election commitment, triggered a major transformation of regional aviation.
This resulted in several initiatives undertaken in recent years, including Qantas, Virgin Australia and Skippers Aviation introducing resident fares on their respective routes for the first time in WA. This also followed the introduction of Rex Airlines’ Community Fare scheme on its routes in WA.
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As stated by Premier Mark McGowan:
“Today is a historic day and an Australian first – regional residents from across WA will now have access to capped, affordable airfares when they book flights to and from Perth.
“For too long regional Western Australians faced excessive, unaffordable airfares when needing to travel to and from the city.
“We made a commitment to make airfares more affordable for regional residents and this initiative delivers for country WA.
“The capped airfares will ease the financial burden for regional residents when travelling to and from Perth – for medical appointments, to visit family and friends, or to holiday and attend events – helping to keep regional communities connected.
“With school holidays beginning, now is a terrific time for regional Western Australians to visit Perth and make use of these new affordable airfares.”
As stated by Acting Transport Minister John Carey:
“Our government knows how important accessible and affordable flights are for regional communities.
“Regional aviation is one of the priorities for the McGowan Government – we have also been working with airlines and local governments to expand air routes and add capacity on flights.
“We have added direct flights between Derby and Broome, and most recently committed $4 million funding to expand the Inter-Regional Flight Network to include Geraldton and increase seat capacity, all helping improve connections and air transport options for regional WA.”
As stated by Parliamentary Secretary to the Transport Minister Jessica Stojkovski:
“From today, regional residents will be able to access capped return airfares to Perth.
“This was one of our major election commitments and will make a huge difference for regional residents who need to travel to Perth for medical appointments, to see family or friends, or just to take a break.”
