New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has announced the opening of NZ borders to Aussie travellers – without the mandatory quarantine requirement – from 19 April 2021.
Australians will be able to travel across the ditch for holidays on Qantas, Jetstar and Air New Zealand. Virgin Australia will not recommence flights to and from New Zealand until October 2021.
The opening of the ‘trans-Tasman bubble’ is welcome news, but comes with provisos, and a warning that disruptions are still probable if Australia reports concerning local transmissions and/or a state enters back into a lockdown.
“For instance, if a case is found that is quite clearly linked to a border worker in a quarantine facility and is well contained, you’ll likely see travel continue in the same way as you could see life continue if that happened here in Australia,” said Ms Ardern.
“If, however, a case was found that was not clearly linked to the border, and a state responded by a short lockdown to identify more information, we’d likely pause flights from that state in the same way we would stop travel into and out of a region in New Zealand as if it was were going into a full lockdown.
“And if we saw multiple cases of unknown origin, we would likely suspend flights for a set period of time.”
Ms Ardern also outlined safety measures that will be in place for all Australian travellers to New Zealand in what is being labelled a “Green Zone Flight”.
The Green Zone Flights will only carry passengers who have been in Australia for the previous 14 days, and crew who have not flown on any high-risk routes for a ‘set period of time’.
“Passengers will need to provide comprehensive information on how they can be contacted while in New Zealand,” Ms Ardern said. “They won’t be able to travel if they have cold or flu symptoms. When they fly, they will be required to wear a mask on a flight and will also be asked to download and use the NZ COVID Tracer app for use in New Zealand.
“On arrival, passengers will be taken through what we call “the green zones” at the airport, meaning there’ll be no contact with those arriving from other parts of the world and going into managed isolation or quarantine facilities. We will also be undertaking random temperature checks of those arriving as an extra precaution.”
IMAGE: Mount Cook, New Zealand
