New Zealand and Australia, which have closed borders to the rest of the world in efforts to eradicate Covid-19, will also allow people to travel from one country to the other without Covid tests.
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Though most Australian states have allowed quarantine-free visits from New Zealanders for months, New Zealand has continued with enforced isolation for arrivals from its neighbour, citing concern about small COVID-19 outbreaks there
New Zealand and Australia will create a quarantine and COVID-testing free travel bubble from April 19, after effectively eradicating the virus by closing borders last year to stop more infections reaching their shores and stringent lockdowns.
Though most Australian states have allowed quarantine-free visits from New Zealanders for months, New Zealand has continued with enforced isolation for arrivals from its neighbour, citing concern about small COVID-19 outbreaks there.
By Reuters Staff
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SYDNEY (Reuters) -Air New Zealand Ltd and Qantas Airways Ltd said on Tuesday they would ramp up flights between Australia and New Zealand to at least 70% of pre-pandemic levels once a two-way quarantine-free travel bubble opens on April 19.
FILE PHOTO: An Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER plane taxis after landing at Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney, Australia, February 22, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz
The restart of a more regular schedule on the popular routes will help the airlines reduce their cash burn at a time when they are almost wholly reliant on their domestic markets for revenue.
New Zealand Agrees to Open Travel Corridor With Australia Bloomberg 1 hour ago
(Bloomberg)
New Zealand has agreed to open a quarantine-free travel corridor with Australia in a major boost for its ailing tourism industry.
The so-called travel bubble will open on April 19, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Tuesday in Wellington. It will restore unrestricted, two-way travel between the two neighbors for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic forced them to close their international borders more than a year ago.
“The bubble will give our economic recovery a boost and represents a world leading arrangement of safely opening up international travel while continuing to pursue a strategy of elimination and keeping the virus out,” Ardern said. “We have worked hard to ensure travel is safe and that the necessary public health measures are in place.”
New Zealand will allow quarantine-free visits by Australians from April 19, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday, creating a "travel bubble" for the neighbouring nations which have closed borders to the rest of the world to eradicate COVID-19.