The moving images of the reunion in Australia and New Zealand: they opened their air bubble without quarantine after more than a year

The emotion possessed this Monday the passengers who were preparing to board the first flights of the so-called air bubble, a measure taken by the Australian and New Zealand governments which allows to travel between the two without having to self-quarantine upon arrival at their destination. The event received extensive media coverage in both countries, with numerous live television broadcasts from the airports.

The resumption of travel has led to many reunions and has allowed families to separate since the borders were closed a few years ago. 400 days due to COVID-19, meet again.

Hugs and screams, along with signs saying “Welcome home” or the Maori greeting “Kia ora” abounded at Sydney and Auckland airports, the first to reconnect on a day when they should. to move out 10,000 passengers on 30 flights.

“I’m going to scream, scream, cry, hug, kiss, feel happy, all at the same time”, Denise O’Donoghue, 63, told AFP at Sydney Airport as she prepared to board.

Heather Lyberopoulos told the ABC public network before boarding the first flight to Auckland to Sydney, where she will meet her sister, who missed her relatives’ “funeral and graduation” when she was stranded in Australia due to border closures.

The traveler also said she feels “a kind of normalcy when she returns home” after more than a year.

For Lorraine Wratt, New Zealand blocked by the pandemic while she was with her family in Australia, it is “fantastic” to be able to travel again “. happy to come home, but we will miss our family in Australia very much, ”he said. “We came to Australia to spend Christmas with our children … We had planned to come back in February, but it was a nightmare.”

Thousands of expatriate New Zealanders live in Australia, and before the coronavirus, many took a regular flight back to the archipelago, a trip of just three hours.

On the other side of the bubble, a grandmother tearfully declared that she was “very excited” because she finally got to meet her grandson.“We have waited so long”he told New Zealand television TVNZ.

Sentences “WELCOME TO THE FAMILY”, Welcome Family, in Maori, were written in giant letters on an airport runway in Wellington, New Zealand. Thus offering a unique welcome to all passengers.

Air New Zealand CEO Craig Suckling called the pre-departure atmosphere at Sydney Airport “electrifying.” “It was a real emotional uplift,” he said.

Airline CEO Greg Foran described the day of “historical” for people working in the tourism sector heavily affected. “It’s a real change for the airline. It’s the first day of our rebirth“Did he declare.

THE NEW BUBBLE

The creation of the air bubble, announced on April 6, will allow Australians to leave the country for the first time since March 2020. Unlike New Zealanders, who since last October could enter Australia without needing mandatory quarantines, although they had to go through a period of isolation on their return.

The successful management of the pandemic in both countries is mainly due to the drastic closure of their international borders since March of last year, as well as the application of rapid containment measures and the monitoring of local infections.

Australia and New Zealand have both said they will continue to maintain the two-week isolation in hotels and authorized centers for travelers from other countries. “This is a premier deal that opens up travel while keeping COVID-19 out of the community,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement.

“This is a great day for families and their friends, and an important step in reconnecting New Zealand with the world.”New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern added.

The good situation also allows New Zealand to be on the verge of opening more travel bubbles with the Cook Islands and Niue, two Pacific countries that have escaped the pandemic. For its part, Australia, as Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said on Monday, is seeking to resume travel to Singapore and other regions at low risk of contagion such as countries in the Pacific.

NO HITE TO REOPEN THE BORDERS

However, these specific opening plans do not mean that Australia and New Zealand will soon open all of their international borders.

Morrison, who has on hold repatriation of some 30,000 Australians stranded abroad, said his government “In no hurry to open these borders” in order to avoid risks.

The Australian president hoped to start gradually opening its borders once the vaccination campaign, initially scheduled for October, is completed. Vaccination has been delayed due to issues with importing doses, their distribution and fears of side effects, so some experts believe international flights will not normalize until 2024.

For his part, Ardern told Radio New Zealand on Monday that his government would implement “Different protocols” depending on the country of origin, by insisting that his government aims to have a “country by country” framework.

Since the start of the pandemic, New Zealand has racked up some 2,240 confirmed infections, with 26 deaths, while Australia has so far recorded some 29,500 infections, including 909 deaths, most from the outbreak in the Melbourne city in mid-September. . 2020.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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