NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the land of the Long White Cloud will open its border from 12 April to vaccinated Aussies, as the UK plans to drop all travel restrictions.
Aussies entering New Zealand will still need to provide proof of vaccination and test negative before boarding their flight, but there will not be a required isolation period for fully vaccinated arrivals.
The border re-opening change aligns with the term two school holidays and will come just before Easter.
“We are a safe place to visit, and New Zealand will be ready with open arms,” Ardern said at her announcement this morning.
“In particular, I look forward to welcoming back our trans-Tasman travellers, who have historically made up 40 per cent of our international arrivals, around 1.5 million Australians. “
Ardern also announced that travellers from countries with visa waiver arrangements, including the US and the United Kingdom, can enter from 1 May.
Ardern’s announcement comes after many border re-opening dates have been delayed in the past few months due to the Delta and Omicron variants spreading.
Meanwhile, the UK will drop all remaining travel restrictions for all international arrivals from 18 March.
UK Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, commended the hard work that people in the UK have done to reach this point.
“The UK is leading the world in removing all remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions, and today’s announcement is a testament to the hard work everyone in this country has put in place to roll out the vaccine and protect each other,” Shapps said.
“I said we wouldn’t keep travel measures in place for any longer than necessary, which we’re delivering on today – providing more welcome news and greater freedom for travellers ahead of the Easter holidays.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the travel sector and partners around the world to keep international travel moving.”
The UK government will continue to maintain a range of contingency measures in reserve, which would enable it to take swift and proportionate action to delay any future harmful variants of COVID-19 entering the UK should the need arise.
The government plans on having the least stringent measures possible to minimise the impact on travel.
The UK have been less strict with its travel restrictions than Australia or New Zealand and currently has 86 per cent of its population fully vaccinated.
