Tears, hugs and kisses on day of pure joy

Sydney International Airport’s arrivals hall transformed from a lifeless empty space to one heaving with humanity after borders opened to fully vaccinated returning Aussies on Monday.

Like a scene from Love Actually … it was all smiles as overjoyed families were reunited in the international arrivals hall at Sydney Airport on Monday. Picture: AFP

In the space of a few magical minutes, Sydney International Airport’s arrivals hall transformed from a lifeless, empty space to one charged with excitement and emotion as the first quarantine-free flights in well over a year touched down on Monday.

A Singapore Airlines flight was the first to arrive, with Qantas close behind – the flying kangaroo delivering scores of Australians home from Los Angeles after almost 600 days in exile, separated from their loved ones.

For 25-year-old David Frisken, the reopening of Australia’s borders was the moment he had been dreaming of for more than two years – as he tearfully greeted his fiancee Hye Young Moon, 27, with hugs and a bouquet of roses.

The high-rise window cleaner said it was “amazing” to be with his love again, after Covid put a stop to his regular trips to South Korea to visit her.

“She was my boarder at home and I kind of fell in love with her but she had to move back to South Korea when her visa expired in 2016,” Mr Frisken said.

Elsewhere, grandmother Toni Lyras struggled to hold back tears as she held her nine-month-old granddaughter Amelia for the first time. With daughter Melissa and her husband Sebastian Pugligheddu based overseas for work, Ms Lyras had not been able to meet Amelia in person.

“I’ve been talking to her every morning and every night since she was born. We wanted to see how she’d react when she met us in person, and she was fantastic,” Ms Lyras said. “It was as if she’d known us all along.”

About 1500 people were scheduled to arrive on 20 international services into Sydney and Melbourne on Monday, an average of 75 people a flight, due to the move to allow fully vaccinated Australians to return home without having to go into quarantine.

A family arriving from Singapore takes a selfie upon arrival at Melbourne Airport on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

Despite the relatively small loads, the numbers were still much higher than the handful of passengers foreign airlines had been carrying into Australia due to tough passenger caps.

When Qantas and Virgin Australia suspended all international services in late March 2020, carriers like Qatar, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Cathay Pacific and Etihad continued to operate, bringing 300,000 people home on 10,000 flights. The average number of passengers on a flight was just 30, which over the past two months was driven down even further to 10 or fewer.

Board of Airline Representatives of Australia executive director Barry Abrams said foreign carriers had made a remarkable contribution.

“Throughout the pandemic, international airlines operated capped passenger flights into the major capital city airports under the most challenging conditions,” Mr Abrams said. “The numerous cuts to the flight caps made by government – and often with little notice – caused considerable stress and problems for Australians overseas and for airlines.”

Mr Abrams said international airlines would now be well placed to support the return of international students and economic visa holders to Australia, followed by international tourists.

Hye Young Moon and her fiance David Frisken. Picture: Adam Yip

He also paid tribute to the international aircrew who endured extraordinary conditions, including almost daily Covid tests and strict quarantine arrangements simply to do their job.

Qantas flight manager Paul Wilson, who volunteered to work on repatriation flights undertaken by the airline, said he had spent four months in hotel quarantine or home isolation.

He said it was fantastic to be able to walk off the flight and go home “like an adult human”.

“I can go to the supermarket,” Mr Wilson said. “This is a really great day for everyone here in Australia just to be able to go out and to live our best lives.”

Far away from the euphoric scenes at Sydney and Melbourne Airport, Brisbane Airport chief executive Gert-Jan de Graaff could only watch on in the knowledge that it would be months until they followed.

“It is tough to watch from here,” he said. “Queensland must join NSW and Victoria in opening up as soon as possible. If we wait too long, we will lose ground that will take years to recover.”

Originally published as Tears, hugs and kisses on day of pure joy