Holiday-makers primed for overseas take-off

Eager holiday-makers are dusting off their suitcases and passports, ready to jet off to some of the seven international destinations on the cards for Australian travellers in January.

Fraser Munro and Won-Hae Shim, who met during the pandemic and are yet to travel together, have booked a holiday in Fiji early next year. Picture: Jane Dempster

Eager holiday-makers are dusting off their suitcases and passports, ready to jet off to some of the seven international destinations on the cards for Australian travellers in January.

Qantas will begin offering almost 200 return flights a week to destinations around the world from the beginning of next year.

Last week, the federal government announced states that are 80 per cent fully vaccinated will have their international borders reopened for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.

People who are fully inoculated will be able to go overseas without obtaining permission from the Department of Home Affairs.

Pending a successful trial of home quarantine, Australians will be required to isolate at home for only a week, instead of an expensive two-week stay in a hotel.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has warned that international flights could be paused to countries that experience severe Covid outbreaks in future, raising the prospect that Australian travellers could once again be stranded, but Australians seem ready to take the risk.

The national airline will be taking off in January – with 122 ­return flights a week to New Zealand, 18 to the US and 14 to Britain and Singapore.

There are also plans for four return flights a week to Tokyo and Fiji and three to Canada – all dependent on borders staying open – and the flights are open only to the fully inoculated.

Services Australia is currently developing technology that will allow Australians to authenticate their vaccination status securely on an international level.

Airlines and countries will be able to verify the vaccination status of Australians with Home Affairs, using visible digital seal (VDS) technology that incorporates cryptographic technology similar to that of ePassports. The technology will be used to verify the vaccination status of Won-Hae Shim and Fraser Munro, who met last year in the middle of the pandemic and have been dating for a year.

 

They’ve never been overseas together – last year, Ms Shim had a trip to New Zealand cancelled, while Mr Munro missed out on a trip to Europe.

They’ve had one trip to Darwin postponed, with the rescheduled trip for early November all but cancelled.

“It means so much more than just the holiday for me, and I’m sure for a lot of other people, ­because it’s been a really tough year for many,” Ms Shim told The Australian.

“The opportunity to escape and recharge would mean a lot. Even if the trip doesn’t go ahead, we needed something to look forward to in order to keep sane. The anticipation is better than the holiday itself,” the 27-year-old construction project manager said.

The couple booked a trip to Fiji at the beginning of September after reading articles that flights were going to commence from December.

“I had a look at flights and expected them to be thousands of dollars, but they were $700 return per person to Fiji,” she said.

Mr Munro, who works as a data analyst, is excited he can ­finally get overseas and visit a country that so heavily relies on tourism. “When Covid hit and people weren’t allowed to travel, the income for a lot of locals would have dried up, so it’s really good to be able to go and contribute to their economy,” the 26-year-old said.

Fiji has been heavily locked down during the pandemic, with its tourist industry badly hit.

The island nation is only now emerging from the outbreak that saw daily new cases reach almost 2000 in July. New daily cases are down to below 100 this week and after a successful vaccination drive, more than 90 per cent of the target population has received at least one jab.

Fiji has announced plans to reopen its borders by the beginning of November, with the expectation that 80 per cent of its population will be fully vaccinated.

Those vaccinated won’t be required to quarantine on entry, with rapid antigen testing and an electronic travel declaration the only requirement for tourists.