Coronavirus: New Zealand travel bubble sparks holiday rush

Airlines hope to carry close to 100,000 people a week between Australia and New Zealand when a travel bubble begins on April 19.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces the travel bubble with Australia in Wellington on Tuesday. Picture: Getty Images

Australians are rushing to fly into New Zealand for a holiday after the nations opened their borders for a two-way travel bubble, a result of their remarkable dual achievement in conquering COVID-19 outbreaks.

While New Zealanders have been allowed to travel to Australia without the need to quarantine on arrival, Australians will now be able to pour into New Zealand from April 19, less than a week before the annual celebration of Anzac Day.

More than 100,000 people a week will travel between the countries after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern approved the quarantine-free travel.

Scott Morrison described the return of flights as “tremendous” and the first step toward normalisation of international travel as vaccinations increase and COVID-19 cases remain low.

Ms Ardern said the trans-Tasman travel bubble was an opportunity to reunite family and friends and “a start of a new chapter” in the recovery from the pandemic. “That makes New Zealand and Australia relatively unique … I know family, friends and significant parts of our economy will welcome it, as I know I certainly do,” she said.

From April 19, Qantas and Jetstar will operate 122 services a week — about 52,000 seats — on 15 routes, including new routes from Auckland to Cairns and the Gold Coast. Air New Zealand will fly almost as many on 19 routes by the end of June.

But in a surprise move, Virgin Australia postponed the return of flights to New Zealand from June to October 31, blaming the complexity of “evolving border requirements” as well as a lack of planes.

Airlines and tourism operators saw an immediate surge in interest on the back of Ms Ardern’s announcement.

A Qantas Group spokeswoman said seats on trans-Tasman flights had been “selling like hot cakes” across Qantas and Jetstar.

Sale fares of $269 one way were being offered by Jetstar between Sydney and Auckland and from $342 on Qantas for Sydney-Queenstown.

Eichardt’s Private Hotel in Queenstown reported its largest booking day in history in the hours after the Prime Minister’s announcement.

Under the terms of the bubble, travellers will not be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 but will have to wear masks on flights, download the New Zealand COVID-19 tracing app and, in some instances, undergo a pre-departure test.

On arrival in New Zealand, random temperature testing will be carried out, and passengers and crew will be required to remain in green zones to avoid contact with other overseas travellers.

Ms Ardern warned it was still a case of “flyer beware” for travellers with both countries maintaining a low tolerance for COVID-19 outbreaks. She and said she could not rule out the possibility some people could be forced into quarantine on arrival in New Zealand.

“People will need to plan for the possibility of having travel disrupted if there is an outbreak but to help people plan ahead and make decisions around their travel we want to share as much information as we can about our decision-making,” she said.

“Once we know about a case in Australia we will have three possible responses: continue, pause or suspend (flights).”

Mr Morrison said that in the event temporary restrictions needed to be applied, both countries would “provide as much notice as possible to government agencies, passengers, airlines and airport operators affected by any such measures”.

As well as airlines, airports, tourism operators and business leaders hailed the bubble as a “game changer” that would help open the door to other international travel.

Australian Airports Association chief executive James Goodwin said customer research had found almost 80 per cent were supportive of creating travel bubbles with countries where COVID-19 levels were low.

“Australia’s airports have been calling for a cautious and planned approach to broadening the scope for international travel and this is a good start,” Mr Goodwin said.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said that, if a unified approach could be achieved at an international level, it could also be applied to domestic borders. “The message from the tourism industry is for all governments to maintain focus and work together on a unified approach to domestic borders and on vaccinating as many Australians as possible, with the view to opening additional international travel bubbles beyond New Zealand, and later wider international travel, as soon as it is safe to do so,” Ms Osmond said.

Australian Federation of Travel Agents chair Tom Manwaring agreed that quarantine-free travel was a “much needed confidence boost” but warned of the need for a consistent -approach to keeping the corridor open.

“It’s not a massive increase in business and our sector still ¬desperately needs support but it is a much needed step in the right direction,” Mr Manwaring said.

“However, we urge both the Australian and the New Zealand governments to do all they can to ensure now the corridor is open that it stays open.”

The Accommodation Association said there would be little benefit to Australia’s tourism sector in the short term because travel would mostly involve family and friends visiting each other.