NSW plans for reopening of international borders at 80 per cent vaccination

A home quarantine pilot will pave the way for replacing the ‘no longer fit for purpose’ hotel system, with NSW on track to be the first state to resume international travel.

A home-based quarantine pilot will pave the way for replacing the “no longer fit for purpose” hotel system, amid a push to allow both foreign tourists and Australian ­residents into Sydney when international borders reopen.

As the 80 per cent fully vaccinated target approaches, airlines are also warning they urgently require details about quarantine, passenger arrival caps and other Covid safety requirements to make international travel viable once more.

NSW is “close” to piloting some home quarantining for fully vaccinated residents returning from overseas Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed.

“We look forward to sharing those details soon,” she said.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian says home quarantining is “close”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

But Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres has gone further, arguing Sydney must also open for vaccinated international tourists and business travellers, supported by “home-based” and “shorter quarantine”.

“It would be a travesty if fear prevented us from capturing one of the biggest tourism opportunities in our history,” he said.

Describing 14-day hotel quarantine as not “fit for purpose” in a vaccinated society, Mr Ayres said a home system using facial and location identifying technology would be “where we move in the near future”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has asked all states and territories to provide an update on home quarantine, noting the advanced nature of NSW’s plans “given the speed” of the state’s vaccine rollout.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has asked states and territories to report on their home quarantine plans. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

“Successful pilots, like the one NSW is considering for some cohorts, will be a key contributor to our national movement towards increasing home quarantine,” he said in a letter to Ms Berejiklian

However, Singapore Airlines regional vice president for the South West Pacific, Louis Arul, said Australia’s international border reopening could not add “unnecessarily” to the “already large backlog of travellers stuck overseas”.

“We would appreciate clarity on how returning travellers will be categorised and processed, whether arrival caps will remain beyond any reopening of outbound travel,” he said.

Board of Airlines Representative of Australia executive director Barry Abrams said 14-day home quarantine, with multiple Covid tests, would “likely be able to return a lot more Australians home”.

“But it’s highly unlikely that it would get people travelling internationally at the sort of scale that we used to operate at, which would allow airlines to run commercially viable flights to and from Australia,” he said.