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Families and loved ones embrace in Wellington on Monday after arriving on the first Air New Zealand flight to land as quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand begins. | AAP / VIA REUTERS
AFP-Jiji Apr 19, 2021
SYDNEY – Emotions ran high Monday as excited passengers set off on the first flights to take advantage of a quarantine-free travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand, allowing families split when borders closed almost 400 days ago to finally reunite.
Emotions were high on Monday as excited passengers set off on the first flights between Australia and New Zealand as part of a a quarantine-free COVID-19 “travel bubble”, allowing families long separated by the pandemic to reunite.
“(I’ll) yell, scream cry, hug, kiss, (feel) happy – all of these emotions at once,” Denise O’Donoghue, 63, told the AFP news agency at Sydney airport as she prepared to board her flight.
The arrangement means passengers can make the three-hour flight across the Tasman Sea without having to complete a mandatory COVID-19 quarantine when they arrive.
Television footage showed emotional scenes at the airports with families reuniting and dozens of passengers thronging the international departure terminals at Australian airports.
New Zealand travellers are seen as quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand begins, at Sydney International Airport
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Hundreds of passengers from Australia began arriving in New Zealand airports on Monday after authorities reopened borders, a pandemic milestone that allows quarantine-free travel between the countries for the first time in over a year.
Though most Australian states have allowed quarantine-free visits from New Zealand residents since late last year, New Zealand had enforced isolation for arrivals from its neighbour, citing concerns about sporadic virus outbreaks there.
Television footage showed emotional scenes at the airports with families reuniting and scores of passengers thronging the international departure terminals at Australian airports.