Qantas has swooped in to rescue Aussie tourists stranded in Norfolk Island after Australia suspended its travel ‘bubble’ with New Zealand.
Air New Zealand has recently been the only carrier offering services to Norfolk Island, with six flights weekly between Brisbane or Sydney and the Australian territory.
But according to a spokesperson for Air New Zealand, the current suspension of quarantine-free flights between Australia and New Zealand means any crew operating domestic flights in Australia must have completed 14 days of managed quarantine if they are not Australian-based.
“This is why we’ve had to suspend the domestic sectors from Norfolk Island to mainland Australia,” the spokesperson told ABC News.
As a result, Qantas had added two return flights from Sydney and Brisbane, plus another three return flights between Brisbane and Norfolk on 1, 2 and 3 February.
The Australian government suspended its one-way Safe Travel Zone arrangement with New Zealand for 72 hours from 2pm on 25 January, prompted by a community case of the South African strain of COVID-19 detected across the ditch – the first for NZ in more than two months.
On Friday, the government extended the suspension by another three days.
Travel Weekly has reached out to Qantas for comment.
