The arrivals hall at Perth airport has been filled with joy and happy tears since just after midnight, when the first interstate planes landed in Western Australia in almost 700 days.
After spending almost 700 days behind a hard border during the coronavirus pandemic, Western Australia is finally welcoming back vaccinated travellers.
About 5000 people will arrive on Thursday across 22 domestic flights and five international flights and tens of thousands are expected to follow in the coming weeks.
The first flight to touchdown just after midnight was a Qantas ‘red eye’ from Sydney.
Jubilant scenes lifted the domestic terminal as the more than 200 passengers were greeted by family and friends.
Television footage showed passengers crying “I’m so excited!”, “Finally!”.
One of the travellers was federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, who will be campaigning in the seats of Pearce and Hasluck from Thursday to Saturday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was also expected to visit WA after the border came down but is isolated in Sydney as he recovers from COVID-19.
WA is the last jurisdiction in Australia to open its border to air travellers but there are some restrictions, including a requirement to be triple vaccinated, complete a travel entry pass and wear masks in the terminal. It’s already a national requirement to wear a mask on planes.
“Australia is now finally back together,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said.
“This day has been a long time coming.
“It will be an emotional day for those reuniting with loved ones.”
Premier Mark McGowan originally planned to reopen in February but this was delayed due to the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 within Australia over the summer.
WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said he expected an influx of travellers after almost 23,000 travel applications were received by Wednesday morning.
Source: AAP
