It’s no-fly zones at home but Singapore here we come
Quarantine-free travel to London, Los Angeles, Fiji and Singapore will soon be a reality for most fully vaccinated Australians who still can’t visit Brisbane or Perth.
Quarantine-free travel to London, Los Angeles, Fiji and Singapore will soon be a reality for most fully vaccinated Australians who still can’t visit Brisbane or Perth.
In a bizarre scenario, the world is reopening to Australia at the same time as some parts of the country remain closed off to their own.
NSW and Victorian residents cannot visit Queensland or Western Australian without an exemption. Queensland’s domestic borders won’t reopen until December 17 and WA’s border may be closed until Easter.
Yet from Monday, when international borders reopen for fully vaccinated Aussies, Sydneysiders will be free to fly to London.
Toowoomba or Bunbury will remain off limits.
Melburnians emerging from the longest lockdown on record can escape to Singapore for a holiday from November 8 but will not be able to visit Noosa or Broome.
Qantas boss Alan Joyce predicted Australia was headed for such a predicament in August, but hoped it would not eventuate. “I think it would be a terrible shame that when we got to Christmas in NSW, you could go visit your relatives in London but not your relatives in Perth,” Mr Joyce said.
Despite the jarring rules, the November 1 relaxation of outbound travel restrictions for double-jabbed Australians was being enthusiastically embraced by the tourism industry.
Sydney Airport was busy preparing for the first quarantine-free international arrivals in more than a year on Monday, as well as 19 departing flights, carrying Aussies to Los Angeles, London, San Francisco and Noumea.
Only a few seats remained on Qantas’s London-bound service, which will be the first commercial international passenger flight the airline has conducted since March 26, 2020.
More than 90 countries are now open to Australians, including 34 where proof of vaccination is all that is required to enter, such as Austria, Portugal and Mexico.
Another 62 countries will allow entry to Australians without having to quarantine providing additional measures are met such as negative Covid tests before and/or after arrival.
As of November 8, Singapore will join the list, after the city-state’s government added Australia to its vaccinated travel lane (VTL) regime.
The step means fully vaccinated Australians can visit Singapore without the need to quarantine, providing negative Covid tests are returned 48 hours before flying and upon arrival.
Singapore Tourism Board CEO Keith Tan said 1.2 million Australians visited in 2019 and they looked forward to welcoming them back.
“We’ve removed some of the requirements for overseas arrivals, and we will continue to streamline and make the process easier for travellers, so the entire process of coming to Singapore will be as straightforward as possible,” Mr Tan said.
It’s expected Australia will reciprocate before November 22, when Qantas is due to restart commercial flights to Singapore.
Australian Federation of Travel Agents chief executive Dean Long said the move to reopen international borders would provide further certainty for hopeful travellers. “We’ve always known that once consumers knew what the road map was and when travel would return, there would be a strong response,” he said.
“With no quarantine in NSW and Victoria, people are shopping (for travel) and we expect them to be buying in the next few weeks.”
He remained concerned that there was still no firm date for international visitors to Australia to return, which was likely to disadvantage airlines and keep the industry from a full recovery.
Scott Morrison has hinted overseas tourists could be back by the end of the year, but only after international students, business travellers and skilled migrants.
“We need a two-way trade to make those aviation routes viable,” Mr Long said.
“Really, there’s no reason why governments can’t start to put some clear dates or say what measures need to be in place for that travel to recommence.”
Virgin Australia added to the growing excitement with the announcement of its international partner network, and the chance for Velocity frequent flyer members to finally redeem points on overseas flights.
Velocity chief executive Nick Rohrlach said agreements with Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Etihad, Hawaiian, South African Airways and Air Canada would allow members to fly to hundreds of destinations.
“After being grounded for so long, many of us can’t wait to reunite with family and friends and experience new places – now Velocity Points will once again make it possible,” Mr Rohrlach said.
Travel websites reported triple-digit increases in bookings and searches by Australians in response to the international border reopening on November 1.
Webjet reported triple-digit increases in searches and bookings of international flights out of Australia, with Fiji, Dublin and London the most in-demand destinations. CEO David Galt said changes to travel restrictions were gathering pace, and airlines were responding in kind.
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