Welcome to the world: First international flights arrive after 600-day wait
Fully vaccinated returning Australians can for the first time return home without having to quarantine as travel restrictions lift for parts of the country.
Nearly 600 days after Australia closed its international borders, planes flew into Kingsford Smith International Airport early on Monday with passengers being offered Tim Tams and native Australian flowers as they emerged from customs.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg declared the lifting of international travel restrictions and the opening up of travel between NSW, Victoria and the ACT good news for the countryās economy.
āItās a day for celebration, the fact that Australians can move more freely in and out of our country without home quarantine, if theyāre double-vaccinated,ā he told ABC TV.
āWeāve seen an additional $150 million a day being spent across NSW and Victoria since the restrictions have eased, and weāve also seen ticket sales for airline travel going gangbusters.ā
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said it was āa great day for our state.ā
QF12 from Los Angeles touched down in Sydney at 6am with no border or quarantine restrictions for incoming passengers who are fully vaccinated.
One man told reporters coming home was āa big dealā after being locked out for so long.
āWeāre a bit overwhelmed and we just canāt wait to see our families. It will be amazing,ā he said.
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Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews is confident Australia will be able to keep its international border open because of COVID-19 vaccination rates.
Slightly more than 77 per cent of Australians aged 16 and older are double-dosed, while about 88 per cent have had one dose.
āAustralia is open for business, people can reunite overseas with their families, start to travel again, so today is an enormously significant day,ā she told the Seven Network on Monday.
Victoria and NSW are welcoming their first quarantine-free international arrivals since Australiaās border snapped shut last year.
It comes as people Queensland and Western Australia are urged not to be complacent about getting the jab.
Queensland has fully vaccinated 64 per cent of its over-16 population and Western Australia, 63 per cent.
Infectious disease expert Nick Coatsworth, a former deputy chief medical officer, urged people not to wait to to protect themselves.
āItās really worrying for me because there are people who are no longer with us in NSW and Victoria that didnāt have that sense of urgency,ā he told the Nine Network.
āIt does seem to be the case COVID has to hit your community before the vaccine rates increase.ā
Meanwhile, a quarantine-free travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia has been given the green light to resume.
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Trade Minister Dan Tehan anticipates a similar Singapore travel bubble is imminent.
He wants returning Australians to be prioritised, but hopes foreign workers and people on working holiday visas can be allowed in before Christmas.
NSW reported 177 new COVID-19 infections, the stateās lowest tally in more than three months, and one death on Sunday.
There were another 1036 cases recorded in Victoria alongside 12 additional deaths.
The ACT, where slightly more than 92 per cent of over-12s are double-dosed, recorded seven new cases.
Travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people going between NSW, Victoria and the ACT have been scrapped as of Monday.
One woman arriving in Sydney said she was returning to see her father who was in hospital.
āI havenāt been able to see him for two years and they wouldnāt let me come in any earlier than today ā so I got the first flight back,ā she said.
Initial flights are limited to Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families and parents.
Fully vaccinated passengers do not have to quarantine in a hotel or at home, paving the way for Australians stranded overseas to be able to return for Christmas.
QF1 (Sydney to London via Darwin) will be the first Qantas International flight to depart out of Sydney at 6.30pm.
Qantas will operate international flights between Sydney and London and Los Angeles, with flights to other destinations in coming weeks.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said many of the national carrierās international crew had been stood down since March 2020.
āWe are back in the air earlier than anticipated thanks to the millions of people who turned out in droves to get vaccinated,ā he said.
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