Qantas flight carrying Australians stranded overseas due to coronavirus arrives in Darwin from London

Thousands of returning Australians will quarantine at the Howard Springs facility, south of Darwin, where they will have access to advanced medical care.(ABC News: Michael Franchi)

A special repatriation flight carrying 161 Australians who had been stranded in the United Kingdom has landed in Darwin, where they will begin their quarantine process in the Northern Territory.

The flight, QF 110, is the first of eight such flights, which have been chartered to repatriate about 5,000 Australians in South Africa, Europe and India back home.

The 787 Dreamliner carried the passengers, including 22 children, nine of whom are infants, from London, and they will be transferred directly from a RAAF part of the airport to the Howard Springs quarantine facility.

The direct flight was more than 14,000 kilometres and took close to 16 hours to arrive in Darwin.

The eight flights are set to bring 1,300 Australians home, but more than 30,000 Australians who want to return home are still believed to be stuck overseas.

These new arrivals will be processed at RAAF Base Darwin and will undergo health checks before being taken to the Howard Springs for two weeks’ mandatory quarantine.

Up to 500 people a fortnight will quarantine at the Howard Springs facility as part of a plan to bring Australians stranded overseas home.

The NT Government has updated its guidelines for people staying inside the quarantine facility including rules that international arrivals will not be allowed to leave balconies attached to their rooms, unlike people who have travelled from interstate.

The guidelines said international arrivals will be “subject to regular health checks” to “support the early detection of COVID-19”.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne told ABC Local Radio Darwin the Federal Government was still working through whether it would consider rolling out more special flights after the initial eight.

“We will identify the need that exists to see whether we continue any flights beyond these eight flights but to load a flight of 174 passengers out of London this morning has taken 1,300 phone calls, 740 emails. It is a very labour-intensive process for our consular staff,” she said.

“It’s a complex process, quarantine, so it’s good to hear it is a well-oiled machine. This is about managing the health and wellbeing of Australians,” Senator Payne added.

“India has been a particularly difficult challenge for many Australians, there haven’t been any commercial flights from India since March except for a number of repatriation flights.”

ABC