Regional cancer patients left stranded without vital treatment due to Virgin, Qantas flight cancellations

Families of cancer patients in remote communities are now confronting 3,000-kilometre road trips for life-saving treatment, after flights to major centres in WA have been cancelled without notice. Key points: Cancer patients have been left stranded after flights have been cut without warning to and from regional centres in WA Some patients have had to face 1,600km road trips to get home and journeys up to 3,000km to receive treatment WA's Health Minister says he's "working around the clock" to get patients home Karratha resident Samantha Felix said her son Dylan drove 1,600km from Karratha to Perth and then back again, to pick her up after her chemotherapy treatment last week. "They're certainly subsidising flights to get Aussies home from overseas and from the east coast, so I hope the Government will subsidise the airlines to get us some flights around the Pilbara and rural and regional areas so we can actually get this treatment that we need," Ms Felix said. Government trying to get patients home WA Health Minister Roger Cook said it was an unfortunate situation, and WACHS was "working around the clock" to return patients home. In a statement, Virgin Australia said it continued to operate a "limited domestic schedule to fly essential travellers as well as operate international repatriation flights at the request of the Australian Government".