That will change later this month, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Tuesday, with the two countries creating a so-called travel bubble effective April 19.
„The Trans-Tasman travel bubble represents a start of a new chapter in our COVID response and recovery, one that people have worked so hard at,” Ardern told reporters in the New Zealand capital of Wellington.
The idea has been discussed from the early days of the pandemic. In April 2020, then-foreign minister Winston Peters put his support behind a bubble, saying, „we’re beating the crap out of [COVID-19], the same as Australia.”
The virus has effectively been eradicated in both countries, with minor outbreaks a result of leakage from returning travellers in quarantine. Australia has recorded about 29,400 virus cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic began, while New Zealand has had just over 2,100 confirmed cases and 26 deaths.
Air New Zealand Ltd and Qantas Airways Ltd said they would ramp up flights between Australia and New Zealand to more than 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, reducing the airlines’ cash burn when they are almost wholly reliant on domestic markets for revenue.
„Tourism operators can now take bookings with confidence and scale up their staffing,” said Chris Roberts, CEO of New Zealand travel industry body Tourism Industry Aotearoa.
Flights to and from some Australian states could still be suspended if there were local outbreaks, Ardern warned. She said travellers must wear masks on flights and undergo New Zealand contact tracing, while the travel bubble did not apply to people transiting via Australia from other countries.
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