Australian carrier Qantas still remains optimistic about a two way air travel bubble between Australia and NewZealand.
In an interview this week, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said he was hopeful that by early 2021 a two-way travel bubble would be up and running.
Alan Joyce’s commented on this in an interview with Aviation Week Network.
“We’re still hopeful that we’ll get a two-way travel bubble with New Zealand.
“I think the issue, from our understanding of it, is that the New Zealand side is waiting for Australia to resolve its own border issues.
“We think that’s the first stepping stone to get these things to happen.
“We’re hopeful in the New Year that we’ll see New Zealand opening up both ways.”
Australia is now allowing quarantine free travel for NewZealanders arriving in some Australians states.
“A large part of New Zealand’s economy depends on tourism, and the largest tourism market into New Zealand are Australians.
“Vice versa, New Zealand is the second-largest tourism market into Australia, so it’s a huge market and could represent the equivalent of 25% of our domestic operations. It’s a lot of aircraft back up in the air if we can get it back up and running.”, commented Alan Joyce.
Alan Joyce sees the Australia-NewZealand travel bubble as a stepping stone to other international travel bubbles.
“We’re also hopeful that once you get the New Zealand bubble established, then other bubbles could open up. The (Australian) Government is talking about Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.
“It will be a great opportunity for us to start re-activating our international fleet.”
“As a former network planner, I think it is exciting.
“The old demand models are not valid. People will still support routes where they can actually travel, and they will make their travel plans based on what’s available.
“We haven’t flown to Korea and Taiwan in decades. But we would put services back on if they did open a two-way bubble.”
What do you think of air travel bubbles? Do you think that a travel bubble will open between Australia and NewZealand? Let me know in the comments section below.