Coronavirus: Heat on holdout Annastacia Palaszczuk as border opens

Airlines and travel agents are sweating on Queensland to reopen borders to Sydney and Victoria but will have to wait another week to find out.

Alan Kinkade, at Sydney airport, is reunited with grandson Tom, who lives in Melbourne. Picture: Getty Images

The reopening of the NSW- Victoria border has triggered renewed calls from the travel industry for Queensland to clarify its position to allow people to make holiday plans.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will not update her borders policy again until next Monday, creating an anxious wait for those hoping to travel to Queensland ahead of Christmas.

The state is closed to “hot spots” including Greater Sydney, Victoria and 20 local government areas in South Australia. Queensland previously set a benchmark of 28 days without community transmission, which Victoria is expected to reach in coming days. NSW has recorded more than two weeks without any locally acquired cases and it has now been a month since the state had an unlinked case.

Melbourne arrivals are welcomed to NSW. Picture: Damian Shaw

Melbourne Airport CEO Lyell Strambi said airlines needed as much notice as possible to get schedules in place and offer certainty to travellers.

“It will take time for people to get confidence before they start making plans,” he said.

“There’s a really big pent-up demand there but the challenge in the lead up to Christmas is whether there’s enough time to make those arrangements.”

Australian Federation of Travel Agents CEO Darren Rudd said there was no doubt demand for travel existed but many people were nervous about making bookings.

“We’ve got to get to the point where consumers are confident to book through a travel agent, confident they will get through an airport and onto an aeroplane,” Mr Rudd said.

Adam de Guara embraces partner Genevieve Wild after five months apart. Picture: Damian Shaw

In the wake of the NSW-Victorian border reopening on Monday, Qantas and Virgin Australia reported a surge in searches for Sydney and Melbourne flights, and a rush of last-minute bookings.

A Qantas spokesman said it would be ready in the event of a Queensland border reopening to Sydney and Victoria next week.