Travel routes available as airlines flag they won’t ramp up right away

As Queensland nears 90 per cent fully vaccinated, airlines are assessing the demand for international travel, with 10 overseas destinations available for arrival and departure this week, and more to come.

International travel is set to return to Queensland as soon as next week as the state nears its 90 per cent double vaccination target.

Once Queensland reaches the 90 per cent mark, the will be no restrictions on entry, and no quarantine required for fully vaccinated travellers.

With about 10 international destinations available for arrival and departure from Brisbane International Airport across the next three days, major airlines say they will continue to review their schedules but would only ramp up flights if there was demand.

Manila, Nadi, Singapore, Noumea, Auckland, Port Moresby, Dubai, Doha, Taipei and Apia all had flights arriving or departing from Brisbane’s International Terminal across Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Passengers begin to board their Jetstar flight. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Qantas was due to restart their international operations from Brisbane in late March with services to Singapore, Los Angeles and Port Moresby.

A Virgin Australia Group spokesman said the announcement by the state government of eased entry requirements was welcome.

“We are continuing to review our schedule and look forward to adding more flights to the Sunshine State as travel demand improves,” he said.

“We are fully supportive of all measures that help facilitate a safe return to open travel and we are committed to safely welcoming Queensland guests back on board international flights in the future.”

But the Omicron outbreak has put a handbrake on demand.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said on Friday the sudden rise in Covid cases was having an impact on consumer behaviour.

“People are already looking beyond what’s happening now with early bookings for the Easter holidays in April looking promising for both domestic and international,” he said.

“We have the flexibility to add capacity back if demand improves earlier than expected, but 70 per cent still represents a lot of domestic flying and it’s a quantum improvement on the levels we faced only a few months ago.”