The giddy speculation around a start date for the Trans-Tasman bubble has taken another positive leap towards take-off with September being earmarked as a potential start month.
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that The Trans-Tasman Safe Border Group – an alliance of more than 40 airports, airlines, health specialists and governments on both sides of the Tasman – has been working on a blueprint to restart air travel and will be ready to present it to both governments in early June.
Given both countries have successfully flattened the COVID-19 curve, the two Governments have been formally discussing allowing people to travel across the Tasman without having to undergo 14 days of quarantine.
September here we come… That’s just three months away.
The proposed plan considers passengers’ pre-flight health requirements and eligibility, protections onboard planes, how passengers move through airports and contact-tracing conditions once travellers reach their destinations in Australia or New Zealand.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had spoken to her Australian counterpart Scott Morrison and that both were keen to move forward with the idea “as quickly as we can”.
“It won’t be too long before we are ready,” she said.
This news will be music to the ears of the travel industry, and no doubt bring a level of certainty that’s been missing to date, with previous timeframes suggested including an ambitious resumption in July.
Aside from re-connecting friends and family once more who, could this also mean we may get to enjoy the last of the snow season in New Zealand? With Kiwi’s reciprocally getting to enjoy our warmer climes in Winter?
Yesterday’s Tourism New Zealand PURE campaign launch seems to have been perfect timing.
