US, UK ‘travel bubbles’ appear on horizon

Qantas boss Alan Joyce has tipped flights to the US and the UK before Singapore based on the countries’ vaccination rollouts.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has raised the possibility the airline could be flying to the US and the UK before Singapore. Picture: Jeremy Piper

The Pacific Islands are firming as the site of Australia’s next travel bubble but flights to the US and Britain could follow because of the success of their Covid vaccination rollouts.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce made the prediction as he continued his campaign to incentivise Australians to get the jab against Covid-19.

Speaking at the Future of Travel Forum hosted by News Corp in Sydney on Monday, Mr Joyce said the vaccine was the key to resuming international travel by the end of the year.

He said while there was a need for greater certainty on domestic borders and what constituted a hotspot, the “elephant in the room” was international borders, which were predicted to remain shut well into 2022.

“We know the path to get international open is really the vaccine,” he said.

“It’s our passport to get inter­national travel going again.”

Qantas was seeing strong demand for the trans-Tasman bubble, and expected the federal government would soon extend quarantine-free travel to the ­Pacific Islands, including Fiji, Noumea and Vanuatu.

Already, flight crews operating from the Pacific Islands into Australia were being granted exemptions to 14-day quarantine, providing all on board tested negative to Covid-19.

Mr Joyce tipped the US and Britain could follow the Pacific ­Islands, leapfrogging other ­“bubble” candidates.

“A few months ago, I thought maybe Singapore, Taiwan and Japan would be first cabs off the list but with the great progress that’s been made in the US and the UK, you may see those markets opening up before the rest because the vaccine rollout has been so successful in both countries,” he told Nine’s Today show on Monday. “We’re still talking to the government about it, we’re still planning to be ready (to fly long-haul international) at the end of this calendar year.”

Preparations and planning for international travel were ongoing, Mr Joyce said, with aircraft and crew at the ready.

He likened the pandemic to a plane journey, describing the flight as “superb”, albeit with some turbulence along the way.

“The government has managed this unbelievably well, state and federal governments. But we’re coming up to the most difficult part of a flight, the pilot will tell you, and that’s the landing.

“And to land the aircraft successfully, we have to roll out the vaccination program successfully. We have to have a clear plan for opening up the borders.

“We have to give confidence to people to travel again.”

Mr Joyce echoed the sentiments of Michael Miller, News Corp executive chairman Australasia, at the forum, which was attended by Federal Minister for Tourism, Trade and Investment, Dan Tehan, and Australia’s leading tourism and travel operators.

Mr Miller labelled “inconsistent” guidelines to border controls and lockdowns, and expensive hotel quarantine, as serious impediments to the $60 billion travel industry’s recovery.

Also at the forum, Margy Osmond, chief executive of the Tourism and Transport Forum, said borders, both international and domestic, were the biggest problem the sector was facing.

“We’ve got to manage the risk, not treat this as an emergency 24/7 … [the government] needs to look more closely at the NSW example of how to manage this and get some uniformity around the country about how that rolls out.

“Because that’s about confidence, and that’s what travellers need,” she said,