coronavirus,
Travel between Victoria and the ACT is no longer restricted as state borders open for the first time in more than four months. The first Melbourne flight loaded with passengers who will not need to quarantine when they enter the ACT arrived at Canberra Airport just after 9am. ACT chief health officer Kerryn Coleman confirmed on Friday it was safe to push ahead with the planned border opening after Victoria reported three weeks without any new cases of COVID-19. NSW and the ACT shut borders with Victoria on July 8 as the deadly second wave hit the state. Travel between the three jurisdictions is no longer restricted. Airlines have welcomed the news with more flights on Canberra Airport’s arrivals board from this week. Eight flights between Canberra and Melbourne will run each week as both Qantas and Virgin Airlines increase services. Both airlines have also boosted flights between Sydney and Melbourne, a route which had been the second busiest in the world before the pandemic dropped to just one flight per day at the height of Victoria’s lockdown. Qantas and Jetstar will operate 17 return flights on Monday and Virgin will run four daily. Qantas and Jetstar sold more 25,000 seats in the first 48 hours after it was announced the border restrictions would be lifted. Meanwhile, two days after Adelaide was released early from a hard lockdown, South Australian travellers are still required to complete a health screening on arrival to Canberra. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian thanked the border community of Wodonga for its effort throughout the four month closure which took a toll on the cross-border communities. “We never want to see this ever again,” she said. “This is the last time in our lifetime this border is closed and … it will be a whole new era for both of our states.” Ms Berejiklian said the restrictions had cost several million dollars, with more than five million cars and 500,000 heavy vehicles passing through the Wodonga checkpoint throughout. “It has cost several millions of dollars if you add up all the costs but you can’t put a price on community safety,” she said. – With AAP
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Travel between Victoria and the ACT is no longer restricted as state borders open for the first time in more than four months.
The first Melbourne flight loaded with passengers who will not need to quarantine when they enter the ACT arrived at Canberra Airport just after 9am.
ACT chief health officer Kerryn Coleman confirmed on Friday it was safe to push ahead with the planned border opening after Victoria reported three weeks without any new cases of COVID-19.
NSW and the ACT shut borders with Victoria on July 8 as the deadly second wave hit the state. Travel between the three jurisdictions is no longer restricted.
Airlines have welcomed the news with more flights on Canberra Airport’s arrivals board from this week.
Eight flights between Canberra and Melbourne will run each week as both Qantas and Virgin Airlines increase services.
Both airlines have also boosted flights between Sydney and Melbourne, a route which had been the second busiest in the world before the pandemic dropped to just one flight per day at the height of Victoria’s lockdown.
Qantas and Jetstar will operate 17 return flights on Monday and Virgin will run four daily.
Qantas and Jetstar sold more 25,000 seats in the first 48 hours after it was announced the border restrictions would be lifted.
Meanwhile, two days after Adelaide was released early from a hard lockdown, South Australian travellers are still required to complete a health screening on arrival to Canberra.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian thanked the border community of Wodonga for its effort throughout the four month closure which took a toll on the cross-border communities.
“We never want to see this ever again,” she said.
“This is the last time in our lifetime this border is closed and … it will be a whole new era for both of our states.”
Ms Berejiklian said the restrictions had cost several million dollars, with more than five million cars and 500,000 heavy vehicles passing through the Wodonga checkpoint throughout.
“It has cost several millions of dollars if you add up all the costs but you can’t put a price on community safety,” she said.
