Australian lockdown

Qantas has cancelled all international flights until late October, with the possible exception of routes to and from New Zealand.

“With Australia's borders set to remain closed for some time, we have cancelled most international flights until late October,” the airline said in a statement.

“We still have some flights scheduled across the Tasman in the coming months, with the expected travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand. Should travel between Australia and other countries open up and demand returns, we can add more flights back into our schedule.”

Earlier this week, Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham admitted that international borders with most countries were unlikely to reopen until 2021.

“I do sadly think that in terms of open tourist-related travel in or out of Australia, that remains quite some distance off, just because of the practicalities of the volumes that are involved and the need for us to first and foremost keep putting health first.” he said.

On the domestic front Qantas and subsidiary Jetstar expect that they will be operating up to 15% by the end of June equating to 300 more return flights per week.

In May, Qantas officially halted its Project Sunrise plans to launch the world’s longest commercial routes including London – Sydney.

www.qantas.com

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