Jetstar CEO Gareth Evans has refused to apologise over passengers from Melbourne but says procedures at Sydney Airport have now been strengthened to prevent the same situation from reoccurring.
NSW recorded 13 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, 11 of which are from returned travellers. The other two are Albury residents.
There was no evidence of community transmission, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Thursday.
NSW Health authorities worked through the night to contact passengers who were allowed to disembark Tuesday evening's Jetstar flight JQ520 without a second health screening, hours before the NSW-Victoria border closed.
But NSW Health said the passengers had been screened before leaving Victoria, including temperature checks and ID checks.
"As a result of this breach, flights will now not be allowed to land in NSW until NSW Health teams are in place to screen them," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Staff from NSW Health at Sydney Airport, Thursday, July 2, 2020. Source: AAP
A NSW Health spokesperson said airline staff hadn't followed the agreed protocols when they let passengers from flight JQ520 leave the gate area before health staff had finished screening an earlier flight.
But Mr Evans on Thursday said the testing in Sydney was merely a "double-check".
He said the passengers from Melbourne should have been held until they could be tested, but didn't think it was "appropriate to be apportioning blame".
"People should have held the aircraft. They didn't. The passengers got off. We followed them up as quickly as possible."
The airline assisted NSW Health in finding two thirds of the passengers before they left the terminal who were subsequently screened. Authorities followed up with the remaining third within 24 hours, he said.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Thursday said his department had intervened to help NSW authorities with contact tracing and tightening domestic flight protocols.
"We have to focus on making sure that everything that is being done at the state level is being done at the right level," Mr Hunt told the Nine Network.
All passengers who disembarked the flight should be in 14 days of self-isolation as part of NSW coronavirus protocols.
"If anyone's travelled in breach of orders, we'll refer them to police and take the appropriate action depending (on) if anyone is symptomatic," Dr Chant said.
Of the 137 who disembarked in Sydney, 89 were screened and cleared before leaving the airport, according to NSW Health.
Health officials contacted the remaining 48 passengers, with arrangements since made to screen 45.
The three remaining passengers - including one who has refused to be screened - have been referred to NSW Police.
NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann called on state Health Minister Brad Hazzard to investigate the incident after he made earlier assurances all passengers arriving from Victoria would be screened at Sydney Airport.
"It's gobsmacking that such an event could occur in NSW after the Ruby Princess debacle," Ms Faehrmann said in a statement.
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