Travel loophole lets people in India come to Australia through Doha despite flight ban

Despite Australia pausing all flights from COVID-ravaged India, an airline has confirmed there’s a flaw in the system that leaves the nation exposed.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has placed a pause on all flights from India, but there is still a sneaky loophole travellers from the COVID-19-ravaged nation can use to get into Australia.

The decision to pause flights came in a bid to reduce the number of infected travellers arriving in Australia, with hotel quarantine cases across the country skyrocketing in recent days.

However, it is still possible to get around the ban by transiting through Doha, the capital of Qatar, with two cricketers proving just how easy it is to get home on Thursday.

Almost 20 countries have now stopped flights from India, but Qatar and China are allowing arrivals from the nation. Flights from these countries are still arriving in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airport, with more scheduled for the future.

On Thursday, ABC News reported cricketers Kane Richardson and Adam Zampa arrived on a flight from Doha without special permissions to return.

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Travellers from India may still be able to come to Australia despite a pause on flights. Picture: Ian Currie

News Corp contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and asked about the loophole but the department just referred to the comments Mr Morrison made about the travel pause on Tuesday.

In his statement, Mr Morrison said indirect flights through Doha, Dubai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have been paused, which at least in the case of Doha, appears not to have happened.

He did not mention the possible transit through China.

“We are advised that indirect flights through Doha, Dubai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, we are aware flights to and from these transit points and India have been paused by the respective governments,” Mr Morrison said.

but in a statement, a Qatar Airways spokesperson said the company was complying with the new rules.

“We can confirm that Qatar Airways does not currently sell tickets from India to Australia via Qatar and we are not carrying passengers on this route,” the spokesperson said.

“We remain in close contact with the relevant Australian authorities to maintain the compliance required with the current restrictions on passenger arrivals from India.”

It is understood Richardson and Zampa chose to exit the Indian Premier League tournament early on a flight arriving in Melbourne on Thursday afternoon. Cricket Australia did not seek special any special permissions for the pair as they bought commercial flights before the announcement of new travel restrictions.

A number of Australians still remain in India with the IPL, including players, staff and media.

Qatar Airways confirmed travel to Australia is still possible through Doha. Picture: AFP.

Meanwhile, other countries that have placed a temporary ban on flights from India include New Zealand, Iran, France, US, UK, Hong Kong and Canada.

The decision to pause all flights from India to Australia until May 15 has left thousands of Australians stranded in the country while it battles a deadly second wave of COVID-19 infections.

When flights resume, people wishing to enter Australia will be required to have both a negative PCR test result and a negative Rapid Antigen test result prior to taking off.

Mr Morrison said priority would be given to vulnerable Australians wishing to return home.

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People prepare funeral pyres during a mass cremation of those who died from COVID-19 in New Delhi, India. Picture: Imtiyaz Khan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Hotel quarantine cases still rising

It comes as multiple states and territories have experienced a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in hotel quarantine.

NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have all experienced a rise in infected returned travellers.

On Wednesday, NSW recorded nine new hotel quarantine infections, with Ms Berejiklian warning Thursday’s figures are expected to exceed this number.

“I was just advised that overnight we have already had double digit new cases in our hotel quarantine system, which we will report on tomorrow,” she said during Wednesday’s press conference.

“The increasing incidents of disease in some parts of the world is very substantial, it is impacting us in our quarantine system.”

Authorities are still working to determine the source of origin for the new hotel quarantine cases but chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant confirmed there has been a rise in infections coming from India.

“As you would expect we are seeing a higher rate of positivity in returning travellers from India,” she said.

It follows multiple days of high quarantine infections rates, with NSW recording 49 new quarantine cases since Friday.

Queensland, which had previously been recording low levels of daily infections in returned travellers, experienced a sharp rise with nine hotel cases confirmed overnight.

South Australia has also seen an increase in hotel quarantine infections, recording 14 new cases on Monday, up from the nine recorded on Friday.

Likewise, the Northern Territory has been battling a wave of international cases, recording four new infections on Monday, 10 on Saturday and 13 on Friday.

Of those quarantine cases, 24 had arrived on flights from India.

In the past two days, Western Australia has recorded eight new hotel quarantine cases, the majority of which have been linked to returned travellers from India.

Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan claimed more than half of Australia’s active COVID-19 cases were now from people who had returned from India.

“These days the rate is now over half of our cases are out of India,” Mr McGowan told reporters on Wednesday, labelling the situation “terribly tragic”.