The Bubble is Open!

By MiNDFOOD

FILE PHOTO: Passengers arrive from New Zealand after the Trans-Tasman travel bubble opened overnight, following an extended border closure due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia, October 16, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Passengers arrive from New Zealand after the Trans-Tasman travel bubble opened overnight, following an extended border closure due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia, October 16, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo
Today's the day! The Trans Tasman bubble is here.

From this morning all arrivals into Auckland Airport will be split into two channels, with a separate path for passengers from quarantine-free countries.

Mysterious First Flight 

The first quarantine free flight between the countries was due to arrive at 12:05am this morning. The mysterious Qantas flight landed at 12:40am, 41 minutes after the bubble burst. The Dreamliner 737 was expected to be carrying crew ready to work in New Zealand. The flight was no shown on the arrivals board at Auckland International Airport, and Qantas have declined to comment on the flight.

Official First Trans Tasman Flight 

The first quarantine-free passenger flight arriving from Australia is a Jetstar service from Sydney. JQ201 is due to land at 11.20am, where an official welcome is planned at Auckland Airport. The flight is already delayed due to hiccups with passenger’s mandatory New Zealand travel declaration.

The first Air New Zealand service from Australia lands in Wellington at 1pm, and a welcome is also planned. It includes live music and a huge banner at the end of the airport to welcome passengers.

How many Trans Tasman flights are expected a week?

During the pandemic there have been up to 36 flights a week between Australia and New Zealand. Before the COVID-19 pandemic closed borders, the trans-Tasman route one of the world’s busiest international corridors. There were 47,555 flights between Australia and New Zealand each year, carrying 7.27 million passengers.

On Monday alone, there will be 32 movements between Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Perth, Sydney, flying into Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown and Christchurch.

QF121 lands in Queenstown today at 2:30pm, the first quarantine free flight into the region since March 2020.

Greg Foran, CEO of Air NZ, said we can expect more than 300 flights a week between Australia and New Zealand during the July school holidays.

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