Face masks are compulsory for Dubbo's Fly Corporate passengers from check-in as the airline continues to service the Melbourne route with a range of COVID safety measures in place.
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Airline services manager Jeff Boyd said the company had been providing two services a week in both directions to all its ports including Dubbo since an agreement with the government allowed it to resume a basic service in May.
With Melbourne's COVID-19 outbreak worsening in recent weeks, Fly Corporate has taken more steps to keep passengers safe.
Mr Boyd said its mandatory mask policy on board flights had been extended to the check-in stage now at all ports, not just to Essendon in the Victorian capital.
"Everyone now has to be in a terminal with a mask on and board the aircraft with a mask on," he said.
"People are being compliant, people understand."
Passengers leaving Melbourne were also required to show a valid permit to travel to NSW, Mr Boyd said.
Then at Orange, the first port after Melbourne on the run that also includes Dubbo, Tamworth and Brisbane, official screening takes place.
"So we land there, where we're met by NSW Health," Mr Boyd said.
"All of the passengers, regardless of if they're for Orange, Dubbo or Tamworth... come off the plane in Orange and are all screened, and made sure their permits are in place, et cetera, and then the people who are going on to Dubbo and Tamworth are allowed to get back on the plane because they're also at that stage being joined by people from Orange to go on to Brisbane," Mr Boyd said.
Passenger numbers had been limited again for flights into and out of Victoria, "so there's no one sitting next to each other, unless it's a family member", he said.
Numbers were small in and out of Melbourne, "for obvious reasons", but passengers had a variety of reasons for travel, Mr Boyd said.
Some travelled because of family circumstances, while Fly Corporate's "regular mining customers" were moving back and forth, and "lots of health professionals" were also travelling with the airline, he said.
"So we do have a variety of people travelling who need to travel, but it is now quite limited on who and what your purpose to travel to and from Victoria and NSW is obviously," he said.
Mr Boyd said the public could "rest assured" the airline was doing everything it could to keep flights as safe as possible.
"...thank you to all our passengers that are using us and understand that the service we're providing at the moment isn't what they're used to, and isn't probably as convenient as it could be, especially compared with what we were giving them, but it's the best we can do at the moment," he said.