Qantas to Restart International Travel Earlier Than Expected

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The flying kangaroo airline has announced it will resume international travel a month earlier than expected in a statement released on Friday. After an 18-month ban, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the easing of the toughest Covid-19 travel restrictions imposed globally. Fully vaccinated Australians will be able to leave and enter the country freely from the 14th of November. This easing is in line with President Joe Biden’s lifting of the Covid-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated passengers from the UK and most of the European Union (EU) countries.

Subject to Quarantine

The reopening of the international borders is still subject to quarantine measures, with fully vaccinated Australians needing to home quarantine for seven days with a negative test upon arrival. Departing passengers must also be fully vaccinated and have a negative PCR test 72 hours before being able to leave the country.

Subject to quota limits and mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine measures at their own expense citizens and permanent residents have been able to return from abroad throughout the international travel restrictions. Only a limited number of people have been granted a permit to leave the country for critical business or humanitarian reasons since the beginning of the border closure in March 2020.

The first phase of reintroducing international travel does not state the entry conditions for foreign travellers, though further changes to the conditions of travel are expected soon.

Routes To Be Added Depending On Demand

Using their Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet the state’s national carrier Qantas will initially operate three weekly return flights between London, Singapore and Sydney starting November 14. The same frequency will also be used between Los Angeles and Sydney with more routes being added depending on demand.  The demand for international travel has skyrocketed since Qantas proposed a plan to restart international flights in December, just in time for Christmas. Since then, the airline said London and Los Angeles were the most searched online in recent weeks.

“We’d already sold out some of our international flights for December and seen strong demand on flights to and from London and Los Angeles, so we’re confident there will be a lot of interest in these earlier services”, said Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce.

“The early reopening of Australia’s international borders will mean so much to so many people and it’s made possible by the amazing ramp up of the vaccine rollouts”.

“We know Australians can’t wait to travel overseas and be reunited with their loved ones, and literally thousands are waiting to come back home, so this faster restart is fantastic news. It also means we can get more of our people back to work, sooner”.

Rival Virgin Australia, which does far less international flying, has not announced any schedule changes as yet but said it will continue to add flights as travel demand increased and restrictions eased.