Transtasman Bubble: Air NZ, Qantas, Jetstar restart flights

Airports on both sides of Tasman and airlines are gearing up for the start of a one-way bubble trip tomorrow with Air New Zealand operating a special quarantine-free flight.

Starting tomorrow, those on quarantine-free flights to New South Wales and the Northern Territory will not have to isolate themselves for 14 days. However, those who return to New Zealand will have to go through quarantine.

Jetstar and Qantas will also resume limited services from Auckland to Sydney tomorrow joining Air New Zealand and Qatar flying transtasman.

Air New Zealand says it will operate its first flight tomorrow as part of the Safe Travel Zone with New South Wales with nearly all passengers booked outbound.

The airline’s chief executive, Greg Foran, says that in order for the airline to continue to transport passengers safely and to identify passengers with non-New Zealand travel, it has introduced what is known as ‘quarantine’ flights and ‘free from quarantine’.

“Quarantine-free flights will be for travelers from New Zealand flying from Auckland to Sydney and are not required to self-quarantine upon arrival in Australia.”

Quarantined flights will be open to passengers who do not meet the Safe Travel Zone criteria and must be quarantined upon arrival in Australia.

Tomorrow’s flight NZ103 will depart Auckland at 10:40 am and will be a quarantine free flight.

“It’s been a great undertaking to make sure we are ready for this one-way arrangement,” Foran said.

“We know that the passengers on board may have been waiting a long time to return to NSW. About 90 percent of those traveling on tomorrow’s flight are booked for outbound travel.”

Air New Zealand currently operates eight roundtrip flights between Auckland and Sydney per week and will seek to operate two quarantine flights per week, with the remaining flights being quarantine-free.

Between October 16 and October 24, the airline will operate three quarantine flights: October 17, October 22, and October 24, and all other flights will be quarantined free. On October 22, the airline will operate a quarantine-free flight and a quarantine-free flight. The airline is working through flights starting October 25.

Passengers planning to travel interstate beyond New South Wales will need to ensure that they have verified state and territorial travel restrictions and have the appropriate exemptions / approvals for travel as these continue to change.

Due to Australian state restrictions, fares beyond Sydney to destinations within Australia cannot be booked through Air New Zealand.

In the Australian government’s Department of Home Affairs website updates, it says
Green and red zones have been created at Australia’s airports to ensure the separation of passengers arriving on “quarantine-free” flights from other passengers who must enter mandatory quarantine.

” Those on a quarantine-free flight will be guided through the green zone to complete all border clearance processes at the airport of arrival in Australia. ”

Auckland Airport says it has several technology tests underway at the airport to protect the health and safety of passengers.

The number of passengers remains low: only around 3,700 international seats are available each week. Tomorrow there is a roundtrip flight from Qantas and one from Jetstar and they are likely to carry mostly Australians returning home.

The easing of passenger limits in Australia means that Air New Zealand will increase its capacity by 12,000 seats in Tasmania through January.

Auckland Airport Operations General Manager Anna Cassels-Brown said the company was taking a layered approach to protecting the health and safety of people in terminals.

This includes measures currently in place for transit passengers, who are processed through completely separate areas of the terminal from passengers leaving New Zealand, including passengers departing for Australia under the new quarantine-free agreements.

The standards are aligned with the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and comply with the global guidelines developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the UN.

“This is a serious virus, but we know that we can do a lot to manage the risk. Therefore, our goal has been to introduce a series of protection measures around the terminal that reduce the risk of contracting or transmitting Covid-19 in the airport and provide a safe environment for people to work or travel. “

Anti-viral cleaning in all terminals has been carried out more frequently since the outbreak of the pandemic, with a focus on high-touch areas. Clean-in-place audits are carried out using handheld digital scanners that ensure the cleaning regimen is effectively killing germs.

In addition, trials are currently underway on a range of cleaning technology solutions. Ultraviolet light technology, commonly used to sterilize surgical equipment, installed on escalator handrails, antimicrobial shields attached to elevator buttons, and thermal imaging cameras that can detect someone with a fever in a group of people are among technologies being tested by Auckland Airport.

“These are really low-key ways that we can improve the comfort of travelers in this post-Covid environment and they are changes that for the most part will go unnoticed,” Cassels-Brown said.

All frontline airport company personnel who interact with arriving passengers continue to undergo regular tests in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Health.

There are currently 15 retail and food and beverage outlets open for passengers departing before and after the security check. Both terminals are also open to everyone on alert level 1. Duty-free store, The Loop, is operating its Pier A store for scheduled departure flights

Australia’s department of Internal Affairs says that passengers can travel from New Zealand to Australia, without quarantine, if they have been in New Zealand for 14 days or more and have not been to a designated access point, and are traveling to Australia in a free flight from quarantine.

” You do not need to be a New Zealand citizen to travel to Australia without quarantine if you meet the above criteria, but you will need a valid visa to enter Australia. New Zealand citizens do not need to apply for a visa before coming to Australia. ”

While non-quarantine travel from New Zealand will initially be to New South Wales and the Northern Territory, other states and territories may be added at a later date, the department says.

The New Zealand government is working to establish a free two-way quarantine system, but has said it will only do so when it is safe.

Today, New South Wales recorded six new Covid-19 cases in the community after 11 locally acquired cases yesterday, prompting a hiatus to ease restrictions.

Northern Territory says there is no evidence of community transmission of Covid-19 having had only 34 cases, all of which had recovered since the pandemic struck.