Transport Minister accepts Qantas’ Geraldton cutbacks are impacting business after ministers travel via car

Cabinet ministers got a taste of locals’ frustration over Geraldton’s cutback flight schedule, with Transport Minister Rita Saffioti vowing to continue to lobby Qantas for more flights. It’s understood some ministers travelled by car to Geraldton on Sunday for the Community Cabinet meeting due to a lack of flight options. It’s believed the only flight wouldn’t have arrived in time for the meeting. Ms Saffioti said the State Government was working to provide new flight services in the Mid West to better connect Geraldton and support more people in Geraldton. “We understand the community frustration with a reduced number of flights, so we continue to work with Qantas to see how we can increase those flights per week,” she said. “I know it’s an issue the Chamber of Commerce have raised in relation to having more more flights to support that business engagement to give people real option of flying down for meetings rather than having to travel by vehicle.” Ms Saffioti said although the State would continue to ask Qantas to provide further flights, they were also working on a new connection between Geraldton and northern WA, with services to be announced mid-2023. “We’re also working with Aviair to create a new connection between Geraldton and the North West and we expect to have some services to be announced by the middle of this year,” she said. Ms Saffioti said more than 1300 residents in Geraldton had taken advantage of the capped airfares since they were introduced in July 2022 and would continue to take community feedback on the matter. Last month, Qantas announced its limited Geraldton-Perth schedule would continue until late October, but than an extra flight on Thursdays would be added from March.