In May 2021, there was one flight to Alice Springs. In July 2021, there were two. (See chart below.) As Alice Springs does not a passenger arrival cap for normal commercial flights, all of these flights were most likely government-arranged repatriation flights.
For a breakdown of the exact flights to Alice Springs, use the filters on the chart below. From the filters on the right-hand side of the chart. For the Destination filter, make sure only Alice Springs is checked. Each line on the chart represents on flight on a particular date. Hover over a line (i.e. flight) to get the full details of that flight.
View the chart on Tableau Public
Examining the flight during May
There was one flight (CX2171) from Hong Kong to Alice Springs during the month of May (departed 26 May 2021). The aircraft used for the flight (Airbus A350-1041) had a capacity of 334 (0 first class, 46 business class, 32 Eco+ class and 256 economy class seats).
It appears that Alice Springs Quarantine Facility (the Todd facility) only has the capacity for approximately 145 (see this ABC News article). The facility most likely had the same capacity back in May, so Alice Springs would not have been able to handle the aircraft at full capacity. Even if the plane had 145 passengers on-board needing quarantine, the ticket price paid by the passengers would most likely have been cheaper, on average, than on other commercial flights (see chart Number of passengers on each flight).
Examining the flights during July
In July, there were two Cathay Pacific flights (CX2105) from Hong Kong (which departed 23 July and 30 July) were most likely flew at full capacity. They both used an Airbus 350-1041 (A35K) with a total seat capacity of 334. It is impossible that both flights flew at full capacity as a maximum of 145 would have filled the Alice Springs Quarantine Facility. If we assume the flights were allowed about 72 passengers each, the average cost of the tickets would likely have been much lower than flying commercially during July (see chart Number of passengers on each flight).
To take advantage of repatriation flights to Alice Springs, you need to apply through the right government channels. Are you eligible for government assistance? Learn more from my post: