On Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that he expected travel to resume in and out of the country for fully vaccinated Australians around November, when it’s forecast 80 per cent of those over 16 could be fully vaccinated. It’s likely states will hit this milestone at different times.
Instead of 14-day hotel quarantine, those that fit the eligibility criteria that includes being vaccinated with a vaccine recognised by the TGA will instead be required to quarantine at home for seven days.
”The government’s intention is that once changes are made in November, the current overseas travel restrictions related to COVID-19 will be removed and Australians will be able to travel subject to any other travel advice and limits, as long as they are fully vaccinated and those countries’ border settings allow,” the Prime Minister said in a statement.
We will also work towards completely quarantine-free travel for certain countries, such as New Zealand, when it is safe to do so.”
Despite the uncertainty around the exact reopening dates, key airlines are now offering commercial flights in and out of Australia next month.
Qantas’ first commercial London to Sydney flight, on November 14, is already sold out and two additional return flights on the same route have been added in response to demand. Qantas will operate three weekly return flights between Sydney and London and Sydney and Los Angeles.
More routes are scheduled to resume in late December, including Melbourne and Perth to London. Jetstar and Jetstar Asia are offering flights from Melbourne and Darwin and Singapore, and bookings are already available on those flights.
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Virgin Australia is focusing on holiday destinations and from late December has scheduled flights to Fiji from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Limited international flights have already been running in and out of the country for the few eligible to travel, so a number of international airlines – including Emirates, Cathay…