The COVID-19 pandemic has killed business travel. With borders closed, flights & events cancelled, and businesspeople told to work from home, people just aren’t flying for work like they used to any more. Airlines, hotels and other businesses that cater to corporate travellers will undoubtedly suffer if business travel does not recover. As a result, … Continued
Australia has taken the first step towards establishing a long-anticipated “trans-Tasman bubble” between Australia and New Zealand. But, at this stage, it’s only a one-way bubble and New Zealanders can only travel to selected states & territories in Australia without needing to quarantine. From Friday 16 October 2020, it will be possible to travel from … Continued
Update (21 October): Air New Zealand will resume a second-weekly Sydney-Norfolk Island flight from November. With international borders shut, there are few opportunities for Australians to travel overseas this year. But Norfolk Island, an Australian territory located between New Zealand and New Caledonia, is open for business. Norfolk Island has introduced a similar hotspot-based system … Continued
If you’re returning to Australia from overseas – or travelling interstate from a designated COVID-19 hotspot – there’s a good chance you’ll end up in hotel quarantine. Since 29 March 2020, anyone arriving in Australia is required to undergo 14 days of managed isolation in a hotel room. This needs to be completed in government-designated … Continued
People arriving in Australia from parts of New Zealand with no COVID-19 cases may soon be exempt from undergoing 14 days of hotel quarantine. Speaking to his counterpart in New Zealand last Friday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison advised Jacinda Ardern that Australia would seek to apply the same hotspot approach proposed locally to New Zealand. … Continued
On 25 March 2020, the Australian government banned citizens and temporary residents from leaving the country without a special exemption. This extraordinary temporary measure was introduced amid growing uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, the Australian outbound travel ban was widely viewed as reasonable. It’s now the end of August. Not only is … Continued
Thousands of stranded Australians are unable to return home due to restrictive caps on arriving international passenger numbers. Since July, the number of daily and weekly inbound passenger arrivals have been limited at all five of Australia’s major international airports. A maximum of 525 international travellers are permitted to arrive in Perth each week, with … Continued
Last weekend, the newly-relaunched Sydney Morning Herald travel section was filled with articles and full-page advertisements for holidays in Queensland. Just a few days later, on 29 July, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that she would close the state’s border to anyone from “greater Sydney” from 1am on Saturday, 1 August 2020. Queensland reopened its border from … Continued
It’s now been four months since the Australian government closed its border to non-Australian citizens and residents, and banned Aussies from leaving their own country without special permission. Shortly after, the federal government introduced mandatory hotel quarantine upon arrival into Australia. Ever since March, flight cancellations and border restrictions – not just in Australia – … Continued
If you’ve ever tried to redeem your frequent flyer points for an international flight in pre-COVID times, you’ve probably noticed that award availability can be difficult to find. To have any chance of success, you would often need to book early, be very flexible with travel dates and accept an indirect routing – especially if … Continued
Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia have cancelled some flights to and from Melbourne after New South Wales shut its border with Victoria for the first time since 1919. It comes as Melbourne is placed into lockdown from midnight tonight due to a spike in coronavirus cases. The ACT and Northern Territory are also now closing … Continued
Queensland will proceed with its plan to reopen the state’s border on 10 July to travellers from all Australian states and territories except Victoria. It comes as the Victorian government announces lockdowns of 10 Melbourne postcodes for four weeks, starting from tonight, following a localised COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, Queensland will not allow even its … Continued
