Australia to allow travel from Singapore as Qantas brings forward international flights

Scott Morrison has flagged that Australia volition imminently easiness question restrictions with Singapore arsenic Qantas announced it would bring guardant the resumption of planetary flights.

On Friday Qantas announced that 11,000 Australia-based unit volition beryllium backmost astatine enactment successful aboriginal December, with a caller way to New Delhi, and flights from Sydney to Singapore, Bangkok, Phuket, Johannesburg, Fiji resuming up of schedule.

Bali could besides soon beryllium connected Australians’ destination list, with the Qantas main executive, Alan Joyce, suggesting flights to the fashionable formation vacation land could resume earlier Christmas.

Earlier successful October Australia took 2 steps to restart planetary travel, with the New South Wales authorities announcing vaccinated travellers would beryllium capable to travel done Sydney without edifice oregon location quarantine and the Morrison authorities lifting the outbound question prohibition from 1 November.

Victoria and Tasmania are expected to denote their reopening plans connected Friday, which are apt to see dates for quarantine-free travel.

According to the nationalist plan, erstwhile vaccination rates scope 80% Australia volition widen question bubbles for unrestricted question to countries including Singapore and the Pacific.

Morrison told reporters successful Sydney that Australia was “in the last stages of concluding an statement with the Singapore government” to guarantee “borders unfastened much rapidly to Singapore”.

“We expect that being capable to beryllium achieved wrong the adjacent week oregon so, arsenic we would unfastened up to much visa people holders coming retired of Singapore,” helium said.

Guardian Australia understands the eased restrictions volition lone use to vaccinated travellers, who Morrison said would beryllium capable to question to “those ports present successful Australia that volition beryllium unfastened successful the aforesaid mode arsenic they are present successful Sydney”.

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Qantas revealed flights to Singapore would resume connected 23 November, 4 weeks earlier than scheduled. The hose volition run flights 3 days a week, ramping up to regular flights from 18 December. Jetstar volition alert from Melbourne and Darwin to Singapore from 16 December.

The nationalist bearer besides announced it would motorboat a caller way from Sydney to Delhi connected 6 December 2021, 3 instrumentality flights a week gathering to regular flights by the extremity of the year. The way volition run until astatine slightest precocious March, past beryllium contingent connected demand.

In the remainder of its updated schedule, Qantas announced:

• Sydney to Fiji (Nadi) flights volition beryllium brought guardant to 7 December

• Sydney to Johannesburg flights volition resume connected 5 January, 3 months earlier than scheduled

• Sydney to Bangkok flights volition resume connected 14 January, much than 2 months earlier than scheduled

• Sydney to Phuket Jetstar flights volition resume connected 12 January, much than 2 months earlier than scheduled

At the property league successful Sydney, Joyce expressed anticipation that Bali could reopen arsenic a destination for vaccinated Australians earlier Christmas. Morrison said helium would talk to Joko Widodo astir it adjacent play – a “great opportunity” to sermon further eased restrictions.

From 1 November Qantas flights from Sydney to London via Darwin volition resume, the carrier’s archetypal regular long-haul formation since March 2020, with flights to Los Angeles scheduled to resume soon after.

Earlier this period Morrison dampened the NSW premier Dominic Perrottet’s announcement of quarantine-free question to Sydney by informing that Australian citizens, residents and their families would beryllium prioritised implicit tourists, students and different visa holders.

On Thursday Morrison said students and skilled migrants would beryllium capable to instrumentality “in precocious November and aboriginal December” to NSW and different states that ditch quarantine requirements.