Rio Tinto brings Pilbara families together again for Christmas

Rio Tinto will bring relatives of Tom Price and Paraburdoo residents north for Christmas in the Pilbara, by giving away free seats on charter flights during the festive season.

Seats will be given to employees and local community service providers on two charter flights between Perth and Paraburdoo.

Rio Tinto general manager of Tom Price Operations Stewart Beckman said the giveaway was made possible due to expansion project employees heading south for Christmas and returning to work early in the New Year.

"Each year, people working on Rio Tinto expansion projects fly home for Christmas. It leaves a charter flight empty for one leg of the journey," Mr Beckman said.

"For the fourth year we are able to offer them to employees and local community service providers who have worked hard to support our Pilbara operations during the year. We urge families take advantage of this opportunity and bring their loved ones north for the Christmas holiday period."

A total of 92 places are available on these one-way flights:

Monday, 21 December 2009  Perth to Paraburdoo (12pm)
Tuesday, 22 December 2009  Perth to Paraburdoo (12pm)
Monday, 4 January 2010  Paraburdoo to Perth (4.45pm)
Tuesday, 5 January 2010  Paraburdoo to Perth (11.45am)

Rio Tinto will cover the cost of the flight, booking fees and meals, while passengers need to arrange their own transport to and from the airports.

There are the following rules for eligibility:

The person booking flights must be a Rio Tinto site-based employee or a community service provider
A maximum of two seats per family for any return flight will be allocated
Seats are to be used for family members only
There is a strict limit of 7kg hand luggage and 10kg checked luggage per person
Pets are not allowed
Seat allocation will be at the discretion of Rio Tinto and is not negotiable

Bookings will be taken by email only from Monday, 7 December 2009 until 4pm Friday, 11 December (or when all seats are allocated). Bookings received outside of this time will not be considered.

People seeking information about these flights or wanting a booking form should email jacqueline.price@riotinto.com from Monday.

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.

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