Travel bubble: Australia restarts international flights with New Zealand after Covid scare

Australia’s one-way travel bubble with New Zealand will resume from midnight tonight, following the suspension of the ban on January 14. 

Arrivals from New Zealand will be permitted to enter Australia under strict conditions.

Travelers will need to provide evidence of a negative Covid test result within 72 hours of departure if they had been in Auckland in the last 14 days.  

The green light follows a pause on the travel bubble between the two countries after three new Covid cases were reported in Auckland on Sunday. 

Auckland entered a three day lockdown after three people from one family tested positive for Covid-19, while the rest of the country faced level 2 restrictions.

Flights from New Zealand were classified as ‘red zone’ flights, and anyone on those flights had to enter hotel quarantine for 14 days.

The lockdown in Auckland ended after 72 hours even though new cases were identified.

The one way travel bubble, which allows New Zealanders to come to Australia without quarantining, was also suspended for a week in late January after a woman tested for the highly contagious UK strain of Covid. 

Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly said there was a low risk of Covid spreading to Australia from New Zealand.

‘We will continue to move quickly to protect Australians as circumstances change, but we will always endeavor to move just as quickly when those situations are brought under control, or otherwise resolve,’ he said in a statement.      

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has previously said she would like to start a trans-Tasman travel bubble with Australia by March 2021.