Australia will this week remove final Covd-19 border restrictions. Health Minister Mark Butler said proof of vaccine will no longer be required for international travellers from July 6. “The Chief Medical Officer has advised it is no longer necessary for travellers to declare their vaccine status,” Butler said. “Unvaccinated Australians, as well as certain groups of visa holders, have been able to travel to Australia for some time. “We will continue to act on the medical advice as needed.” Inbound travellers are still be required to wear masks on Australia-bound flights and follow any state rules requiring masks on domestic flights. The requirement for all travellers to complete a passenger declaration form will also end. “Removing these requirements will not only reduce delays in our airports but will encourage more visitors and skilled workers,” Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said.

Pre-departure testing for international travellers arriving in Australia is set to end within weeks. Health Minister Greg Hunt announced the ’milestone’ for Australia’s recovery from April 17. From that date, no pre-departure tests are required but arrivals must still provide proof of double vaccination. All travellers must continue wearing masks on all domestic and international flights.. At the same international cruise ships will be allowed to operate in Australian waters for the first time in over two years.  

The Australia federal government is funding a multi-million dollar campaign to boost inbound tourism in the hardest-hit areas of the country. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a $60 million campaign to lure foreign travellers. Tourism Tropical North Queensland will be given $15 million to promote the region, with the rest going to Tourism Australia to advertise in key source markets. It includes outdoor ads in New York's Times Square and London's Piccadilly Circus, as well as TV, online and social media.

Air Canada is ramping up transpacific services. It is boosting frequencies from Vancouver to Sydney with daily service from May 1. The airline will also reinstate Brisbane flights four times a week starting on July 1. Later in the year it restarts the Auckland route with three flights a week. “We are accelerating the restoration of our Australian and New Zealand routes to respond to pent-up travel as borders reopen," said Mark Galardo, Senior Vice President, Network Planning and Revenue Management at Air Canada. Air Canada’s flights connect to and from Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Cairns and other cities via code-share agreement with Virgin Australia. Air Canada's Signature Suite at Vancouver is expected to reopen this summer. “We are thrilled with the expansion of the Air Canada network and to welcome our Aussie and Kiwi friends back to British Columbia to experience the hospitality we are known for," said Melanie Mark, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. "Our tourism operators have been excitedly preparing for the return of more flights from the South Pacific.”

Tourism Minister Dan Tehan has raised hopes of a long overdue cruise restart in Australia. He hinted foreign cruise ships could return to Aussie waters when the existing cruise ban expires on April 17. “I can see no reason why it won’t be lifted and I say to our tourism industry, our travel agents, given what we’ve heard over the last couple of days, I think we can all start planning for that resumption,” Tehan said. It will be ‘a new dawn ’for the cruise industry, CLIA says. “The Australian cruise industry has lost $10 billion over the past two years, and the absence of the ships has disrupted 18,000 jobs, so we are really hopeful now that the government will give us the green light,” said Joel Katz, of the Cruise Lines International Association Australasia. Operators including Carnival Australia and P&O Cruises Australia have welcomed Tehan’s comments. The Federal Government is tipped to confirm the ban will end on April 17, and then a restart schedule for cruise ships will be handed over to state governments to manage.

Abercrombie & Kent has launched an Australian Indigenous Air Safari, a 15 night journey travelling from Queensland to the Northern Territory to South Australia, all by charter plane. It begins with a private jet flight from Brisbane, to Laura, home to the largest collection of prehistoric rock art. This is the only place where you can see Quinkan Rock Art – there are more than 10,000 sites – and UNESCO lists Laura as one of the world’s most important rock art sites. On a tour here, a Kuku-Yalanji guide introduces guests to the ‘Magnificent Galley’: a 20,000-year-old outback museum packed with diverse pieces of art. Guests stay at Jarramali Camp, deep in the outback on traditional land and will be treated to a personal audience with songkeeper Jessie Lloyd – a talented Aboriginal singer, cultural ambassador and founder of the award-winning Mission Songs Project. The discoveries continue in Cape York, flying over spectacular reefs, rainforest and red outback landscapes. Cape York is the northernmost tip of Australia. At Cape York, there’s also the opportunity to visit World War II wreckages, Aboriginal homesteads and pearl diving sites. Guest stay at Banubanu Beach Retreat in the northeast corner of Arnhem Land – very few people travel to this corner of the country, so the beaches are unspoilt. The trip continues to the Northern Territory to stay at the famed Bamurru Plains, UNESCO World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park and to Ayers Rock Resort, to view iconic Uluru. The final stop is Kangaroo Island, South Australia, one the country’s most important wildlife havens.

Foreign tourists are back on Australian soil after nearly two years. It has been over 700 days since tourists were last allowed back into the country. Tourism Minister Dan Tehan says airlines are itching to ramp up flights in the coming weeks.  Qantas Group says it expects to bring in 14,000 people into Australia on inbound international flights this week. There is high demand from the United States and UK, it says.   Read full story

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Australia’s borders will swing open for fully-vaccinated travellers from February 21. It comes as Covid-19 cases continue to drop. Australia’s international borders have been closed nearly two years with the tourism sector badly affected. It has been hailed by trade groups and airlines including Qantas. "Borders reopening to international tourists means Australia is finally back open for business," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said. "We will be looking at our schedules to see if we can restart flights from more international destinations sooner or add capacity to those routes we are already flying.” "We have the flexibility to ramp up flights in response to demand." The PM said the federal government had been working tirelessly to re-open Australia's borders in stages since November 2021. “Those programmes have proceeded very successfully - whether it was programmes with New Zealand or Singapore, , opening up to international students and backpackers and economic migrants who are coming to Australia, that will now be extended to international visitors who will be able to return," he said. "If you're double-vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia and I know the tourism industry will be looking forward to that." Since November, when border restrictions were first relaxed, about 300,000 people have entered Australia.

Australia's major domestic airlines and airports have developed a joint approach to help travellers know what to expect as states and territories prepare to open their borders. The industry-wide approach is designed to help them navigate various state and territory requirements as they return to travel. It includes A4ANZ member airline cooperation with Qantas and Jetstar, Air NZ, Virgin Australia and  Rex. The approach is aligned to the public health orders in each jurisdiction as well as Covid-safe practices that the aviation industry has had in place during most of the pandemic. New South Wales and Victoria, as the two states scheduled to open their borders to all other jurisdictions first, have already indicated that people will need to be fully vaccinated in order to travel intrastate and interstate for a period of time. Queensland has now outlined its roadmap with vaccination requirements, and other states and territories are expected to introduce similar requirements as they gradually reopen. To help streamline the travel experience and keep people safe, the aviation industry has agreed the following measures: • Pre-booking: Links to the latest information for travel in each state will be available on airline and airport websites. • Pre-travel: Prior to travel, customers may be sent reminders (via email and SMS) of travel and destination entry requirements, including any permits required. • Online check-in: Customers will be asked to declare their eligibility to travel • At the departing airport: Customers may be asked to sign-in using a QR code and (in states that require it) confirm their vaccination status • At the departing airport: When checking in, customers will be asked to confirm that they comply with government travel requirements (including Covid-19 vaccination, where applicable). • At the departing airport: Customers will also be asked to sign-in using QR codes to access lounges and may also be asked to show proof of vaccination (where applicable). • On arrival: Customers should have their documentation ready to show authorised officers. Other measures, including mandatory mask wearing in terminals and onboard, will remain in place nationwide but may be relaxed in future, especially as national vaccination rates rise. Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ) CEO Alison Roberts said: "No industry is more excited about reopening than aviation. We've worked hard over the past 18 months to keep passengers and aviation workers safe, and we're ready to keep evolving those controls in the months ahead as we enter this new phase." "Given different vaccination rates and levels of community transmission around Australia, we know that conditions will phase in and out at different times in different parts of the country." "We're encouraging governments to align their requirements as much as possible to avoid a patchwork of rules nationwide."  

After 18 months of being virtually cut off from the rest of the world, Australians will be able to return and travel overseas 'within weeks.' That will likely happen next month as New South Wales nears the 80% vaccine target. "The time has come to give Australians their life back. We're getting ready for that, and Australia will be ready for takeoff, very soon," PM Scott Morrison said. Fully vaccinated Australians will be allowed home from November without going through the mandatory hotel quarantine. Qantas will bring forward the restart of its international flights to 14 November 2021, following the announcement. It will operate three weekly return flights between Sydney and London and three weekly return flights between Sydney and Los Angeles on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. Once the Federal Government announces the exact date international borders will reopen in November, the start dates for these routes may need to be updated, Qantas said. "We know Australians can't wait to travel overseas and literally thousands are waiting to come back home, so this faster restart is fantastic news. It also means we can get more of our people back to work, sooner," Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said. All other international routes that  were scheduled to resume from 18 December 2021 will continue as planned, although it may add additional routes if other states and territories decide to open their borders earlier.

Australia plans to start a limited vaccine passport pilot  scheme soon as it looks to a potential reopening of national borders in the coming months.   Minister for Trade and Tourism Dan Tehan said the government will test a vaccine passport system with several overseas destinations using travel between Australia's diplomatic missions in certain countries. It could include travel to from and between Singapore, Japan, South Korea, the UK the US, and Pacific Islands. "When international border opens we want to make sure we're ready for people to be able to travel again and it's incredibly important that we're doing that preparatory work," Tehan said. It would involve a QR code linked to conventional passports to prove vaccination status. Australia is expected to reach its 80% fully vaccinated target for the adult population by the end of November. So far about 42% are fully jabbed.