Thousands of Australians stranded in the UK and India are set to be rescued with Qantas charter flights and taken to Howard Springs for two weeks of quarantine
Thousands of Australians stranded in the UK and India will be brought home with Qantas flights to Darwin.
About 1,000 Aussies a month will be flown on commercial and charter flights to an RAAF base and then taken to Howard Springs quarantine facility for 14 days of isolation.
The scheme is set to be announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Northern Territory Premier Michael Gunner in Sydney on Friday and is expected to be under way within weeks.
Thousands of Australians stranded in the UK and India will be brought home with Qantas flights to Darwin. They will quarantine at Howard Springs (pictured)
Aussies will be asked to pay towards some of the cost of their tickets, possibly up to $2,000.
It is expected they will also have to pay for their quarantine at Howard Springs – which currently costs $2,500 per person – but a loan scheme will be offered to those who can’t pay at once.
A government spokesman told Daily Mail Australia: ‘Ports even without direct commercial international flights are available to take charter flights, as has been the case of Darwin with labourers from Pacific Islands in recent weeks.
‘As more quarantine facility space has become available with less domestic travellers needing to quarantine, the Morrison Government has been working with the NT Government to finalise arrangements to use Howard Springs for quarantine to enable more Australians to return from overseas.’