Trans-Tasman bubble to open on October 16, Qantas opens bookings

The airline has moved quickly after news New Zealanders will be able to visit Sydney and the NT from October 16.

Qantas has moved quickly to grab the lion’s share of the NZ market, following the announcement Kiwis will be able to travel to NSW and the NT from October 16 without having to quarantine. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Flavio Brancaleone

Qantas has moved quickly to grab the lion’s share of the New Zealand market, following the announcement kiwis will be able to travel to New South Wales and the Northern Territory from October 16 without having to quarantine.

Within hours of the Deputy Prime Minister’s announcement, Qantas added six flights between Auckland and Sydney, and four flights from Christchurch to Sydney. Jetstar will operate three services from Auckland with all of the flights to start on October 16.

Passengers won’t get any bargains with Qantas charging $880 one way from Auckland to Sydney and $875 for Christchurch-Sydney. Return trips are priced at $680 and $650 respectively.

It will be the first overseas flights Qantas has flown since late March, other than government-subsidised repatriation flights.

Prior to COVID, New Zealand was Australia’s second biggest source of visitors, and demand to travel to New South Wales and the Northern Territory was expected to be significant.

No direct flights to Darwin were scheduled, but New Zealand passengers could fly from Sydney to Darwin or Alice Springs.

Virgin Australia was also looking to reintroduce short-haul international services but was expected to wait until two-way traffic was permitted between Australia and New Zealand.

Australians are still banned from travelling overseas with international borders closed until at least December 17.

‘The fish are biting and the beers are cold’

Deputy Prime Minister McCormack said in Canberra that New Zealanders – who do not live in a NZ COVID hotspot – will be able to visit without having to quarantine.

“They are welcome to come to the Northern Territory, welcome to come to New South Wales, and this is the first stage in what we hope to see as a trans-Tasman bubble between the two countries stopping not just that state and that territory,” he said.

“And I know that NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and I know that the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Michael Gunner welcome this indeed.

“I have just gotten off the phone with Chief Minister Gunner who says the fish are biting and the beers are cold and he wants to see as many of his New Zealand cousins and friends as possible.”

However, Jacinda Ardern has poured cold water on Kiwis’ hopes for quarantine free travel to Australia, making it clear that New Zealanders who travelled to NSW and the Northern Territory would still have quarantine for 14 days on their return.

Earlier today, the NZ Prime Minister said Australia’s plans to open its borders to Kiwis might be “their prerogative”, but New Zealand was still not ready for quarantine-free travel.

“I want New Zealanders to keep in mind that even if Australia [opens up its borders for New Zealanders], that doesn’t mean they won’t have to go into quarantine on return. In fact, at this stage they will,” Ms Ardern told reporters.

”In our view, we are not ready to have quarantine-free travel with Australia. They have a very different strategy to us, and so they’re making that decision and that is their prerogative, but for now, we of course have to keep New Zealanders safe.”

Tourism reacts to NZ announcement

Aviation and tourism chiefs welcomed the announcement of the trans-Tasman bubble, with.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce declaring the announcement as the “best news the industry has had in months”.

“It’s great for the family and friends who can be reunited and for people needing to travel for a job,” Mr Joyce said.

“It means we’ll be able to get more planes back in the sky and more of our people back to work.”

Both Qantas and Jetstar were expected to offer flights within days online with the timeline outlined by Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.

“New Zealand was Australia’s second biggest source of visitors before the pandemic. It’s obviously about to go straight to number,” said Mr Joyce.

“Opening borders as part of evolving how we manage the pandemic has been a difficult issue and the federal government has shown important leadership on this. It’s a huge positive for a lot of people and a lot of sectors.”

Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said the move would give the “entire industry an injection of hope”.

“We applaud the federal government for driving this through,” Mr Culbert said.

“Pre-COVID New Zealand was Sydney Airport’s second busiest passenger route behind the US. We’ve been preparing for the ramp up of international passengers from the day restrictions came in and we’re looking forward to giving our kiwi cousins a safe and warm welcome from October 16.”

Australian Tourism Industry Council chief executive Simon Westaway said the bubble was “a real positive” and begged the question as to why some state borders were still not open.

“We’ve got instances of COVID in the community now in the very low hundreds right across the country; vast parts of the country haven’t recorded any recent cases and we’ve got to open up the rest of Australia as quickly as possible,” Mr Westaway said.

“The virus can’t be eradicated but that doesn’t mean you close down the visitor economy.”