‘It’s tough to watch’: Queensland airports dead while southerners welcome family from overseas
Brisbane International Airport on Monday was a far cry from the scenes of its southern counterparts where international arrivals were welcomed back into the arms of loved ones.
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Brisbane International Airport on Monday was a far cry from the scenes of its southern counterparts where international arrivals were welcomed back into the arms of loved ones.
Hundreds of passengers were reunited with partners, family and friends for the first time in two years as border rules were eased in New South Wales and Victoria, removing the need for vaccinated arrivals coming in from overseas to quarantine.
While southerners hugged, cried and chatted on Monday morning, the only noise to be heard at the arrival lounge in Brisbane was the jangle of a security officer’s keys.
Outbound traveller Georgia Martin who was leaving the country for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic said the airport was eerily quiet. “It was funny driving here because the roads to the airport are almost like a third-world country,” she said.
“There’s weeds on the side of the road and it’s just weird.”
Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said Queensland tourism vendors “couldn’t wait to join the party” that southern states were enjoying.
“Of course we are enviously observing what is happening there,” Mr Gschwind said.
“We can accept that we have to drive up vaccination rates to be able to be part of it. That’s fair enough and something we all accept so we can open safely.
“But we should also be given a clear indication of how we will also open internationally.”
A Brisbane Airport Corporation spokeswoman said the scenes at Sydney and Melbourne airports were a reminder of how much people had been impacted by travel bans.
“It is tough to watch from here knowing that we are potentially months away from being able to reunite Queenslanders with the people they love,” she said.
“Queensland cannot operate in a vacuum, we must join New South Wales and Victoria in opening up as soon as possible.
“If we wait too long, we will lose ground that will take years to recover.”
Cairns Airport was also quiet on Monday when they had no inbound or outbound international flights.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath on Monday reaffirmed Queensland wouldn’t open its international border until at least 90 per cent of the population was vaccinated, so not to burden hospitals.
She said Victoria and New South Wales were in a different position to Queensland.
“It’s in effect a bit simpler when you’ve got 1500 plus cases every day to say well, it’s okay for people from overseas to come in with a virus because we’ve already got this virus spreading throughout our community,” she said.