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Australia has reopened the door to Kiwi travelers after suspending outbound travel without quarantine on Monday.
The six-day suspension to the travel bubble was made by Australian officials immediately after the Covid-19 case was confirmed in the Northland community.
The pause in quarantine-free travel was initially just 72 hours, but was extended for another 72 hours on Thursday when two more cases were confirmed, related to the first.
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Air New Zealand’s first free flight from quarantine arrived at Brisbane Airport, Queensland, on January 19. Now there is hope that the one-way travel bubble will resume.
Australia’s Main Committee on Health Protection said Sunday that the suspension, which will expire at 4 p.m. New Zealand time, will not continue.
READ MORE:
* Covid-19: Australia delays decision on quarantine-free flights from New Zealand
* Covid-19: flights canceled because Australia extends the pause in New Zealand services for another 72 hours
* Covid-19: One-way travel suspension in Australia is a ‘warning message’, says Foreign Minister
Professor Michael Kidd, Australia’s Acting Medical Director, said the flights from New Zealand were “low enough risk given New Zealand’s strong public health response to Covid-19 in the community …”
Kidd recommended pre- and post-flight testing in the safe travel zone for the next 10 days.
The committee said it will “continue to monitor the situation in New Zealand very closely …”
JASON DORDAY / Things
David Robert Pickard of New Zealand band The Fools was one of those denied passage to Australia on Monday due to the Covid-19 case in the Northland community.
Air New Zealand has a flight from Auckland to Sydney scheduled to depart at 6.15pm on Sunday.
A spokeswoman for the airline said the flight would leave on time.
On Sunday, New Zealand had no new Covid-19 cases in the community and all close contacts of the cases tested negative.
Last-minute decisions by Australian authorities on the one-way travel bubble have already left some travelers in the lurch, with some flights having to be canceled at the last minute.
An Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Perth on Sunday was cargo only and departed on time at 2.15pm
