Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister of Australia, yesterday announced that it will reopen borders to fully vaccinated international travellers later this month.
Finally!
Starting 21st February 2022, fully vaccinated international travellers will be enter to Australia. This will be the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 that most international travellers will be able to visit Australia.
Morrison said:
The condition is you must be double vaccinated to come to Australia. That’s the rule. Everyone is expected to abide by it. But 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.
Unvaccinated travellers with medical reasons will need to continue to apply for travel exemptions, and will be required to quarantine in a hotel on arrival.
Australia has taken one of the most stringent approach in handling the pandemic and keeping the cases low, although cases have recently soared as the Omicron variant took hold.
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Rules have been gradually relaxed since late last year, with student and skilled migrants permitted entry. Australia’s national carrier, Qantas, resumed international flights in November 2021.
Entry requirements
Except Western Australia, all Australian states and territories will welcome inbound travellers. Passengers will have to show proof that they are fully vaccinated and will also be required to show a pre-departure COVID-19 test. Most states and territories will require passengers to take an on-arrival test, go straight to the accommodation and wait for the result. Some states and territories will allow a rapid antigen test in place of the far slower RT-PCR test.
Alan Joyce, CEO, Qantas Group, said:
This is fantastic news for our people and our customers. We know there are lots of international tourists who want to come to Australia. There are also a lot of business travellers who will finally be able to be in the same room as their customers or local teams after almost two years apart. This means they can now book to come here with confidence. 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.
What do you think of Australia finally reopening its borders to international travellers? Let me know in the comments section below.
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