Airlines prepare for NZ takeoff as travel bubble set to begin

Australia’s busiest international air route is set to reopen within weeks delivering a significant windfall for tourism and airlines.

James Cavanagh, general manager of Eichardt’s Private Hotel in Queenstown, by the jacuzzi that overlooks Lake Wakatipu. Picture: James Allan

Airlines are gearing up for the ­reopening within weeks of Australia’s busiest international travel route, with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expected to announce on Tuesday a two-way trans-­Tasman travel bubble delivering a potential $5.3bn ­windfall.

Quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand is expected to begin on April 12 or 19, according to federal government and industry sources.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry tourism chief John Hart said “the 19th was pretty much definite”.

“That’s what the airlines have been told and they’ve already started bookings,” Mr Hart said.

Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said a two-way travel bubble with New Zealand would be “another major step towards further confidence returning to our tourism industry” after Australia’s major airlines recorded near-normal flight bookings over the Easter long weekend.

Before the COVID-19 crisis, 7.27 million people travelled between Australia and New Zealand on 47,555 flights each year, making the trans-Tasman route one of the world’s busiest international corridors. As New Zealand’s biggest source of foreign visitors, 1.5 million Australians spent $2.7bn in the country in 2019. Almost as many New Zealanders, 1.3 million, spent $2.6bn in Australia. In ­contrast, fewer than a million ­people made the trip in the year to January 2021, as airlines slashed flights or stopped flying across the Tasman altogether. But in a sign of optimism for the travel industry, Air New Zealand was already adding capacity, offering three return flights a day between Sydney and Auckland from April 19, up from one currently.

And Qantas recently announced it would offer three days of “points planes”, or flights with an uncapped number of frequent flyer reward seats, when the travel bubble began.

A Virgin Australia spokesman said that, in light of the pending announcement, the airline was ­assessing its forward schedule.

“We are currently selling a limited New Zealand schedule from June 19, 2021,” he said.

Ann Sherry, who chairs the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum, said there had not been a single case of COVID-19 transmission between the two countries, even though a one-way travel bubble for New Zealanders travelling here had been in place since October.

The forum has been working for nearly a year on rules and protocols for a safe travel bubble and Ms Sherry said Sydney-Auckland was the logical first route.

“The risk seems certainly low and manageable and the vaccine is rolling out on both sides of the Tasman now,” Ms Sherry said. “We’re really hoping this will be the first bubble (of many) and both countries will watch it very ­carefully.”

Tourism New Zealand’s general manager for Australia, ­Andrew Waddel, said they were looking forward to welcoming “our Australian neighbours” once again to aid in the country’s economic recovery.

“While domestic tourism has been solid for operators, there is an estimated $12.9bn gap from the loss of international travellers,” Mr Waddel said.

“Quarantine-free travel from Australia to New Zealand will go some way to filling this.”

Just as Australian tourism operators hoped to lure high-spending Kiwis who would normally visit Europe or the US, New Zealand businesses also have their sights set on premium travellers. Hall Cannon, the managing director of the luxury Otahuna Lodge in Christchurch, said Australians were typically one of their top three markets and had been sorely missed in the last year. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the demand from New Zealanders but I cannot overstate just how significant the closure of borders has been to our business,” Mr Cannon said.

James Cavanagh, general manager of Eichardt’s Private Hotel in Queenstown, said the level of trans-Tasman inquiries had already increased and the hotel was working on a reopening scenario of April 19 or May 1. “We are all waiting on the Prime Minister’s announcement as we strongly believe that it will make a huge difference to Queenstown and its regional economy as well as for our hotels,” Mr Cavanagh said. “We believe Queenstown could very quickly become the number one international destination for Australians at least for a short period of time until other markets open.”

Robertson Lodges’ director of hospitality, Callum Farnell, said they had closed one of their three properties because of the pandemic and reduced the operating hours of the others.

But he was hopeful of better times ahead, as Australians made up 20 per cent of their guests before COVID-19. “It would be enormous if we could get back to somewhere near even half the levels that we had out of Australia,” he said.

Aviation consultant Bradley Dailey sounded a warning that any travel bubble opening in the short term would come with a degree of risk for travellers.

The director of Alton Aviation Consultancy said both Australia and New Zealand had used border closures to curtail potential COVID-19 outbreaks and would continue to do so while most of the population was unvaccinated.