Air New Zealand will begin operating its first quarantine-free flights from Auckland to Brisbane, starting tomorrow (January 7).  

Passengers travelling on these flights will not be required to quarantine on arrival in Brisbane, but instead will need to complete the Australia Travel Declaration form, stating they have been in New Zealand for 14 days prior to travel.

Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty said the first quarantine flight - NZ147 - would depart Auckland at 7.40 am tomorrow. 

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She said the airline currently operated five return flights per week between Auckland and Brisbane. 

Three of these services would be quarantine-free flights, while the remaining two would be quarantine flights. 

“Quarantine flights are not able to be booked by people beginning their journey in New Zealand,” she said. 

Ms Geraghty said the flights from Auckland to Brisbane would operate similarly to the flights that have been travelling to Sydney and Melbourne.

“…There are quarantine-free flights for people whose travel originates in New Zealand, and quarantine flights for people who do not meet the Safe Travel Zone criteria,” she said.

She added the airline had been working closely with authorities in Australia to ensure that all agencies involved could “confidently accept quarantine-free flights.”

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A spokesperson for Air New Zealand said any passengers planning to travel interstate beyond Queensland would need to check the state and territory travel restrictions and have the appropriate exemptions and approvals to travel.

The situation in Australia is changing rapidly. 

In the last two days, the Australian government announced further travel restrictions, with Victoria’s border for entry from New South Wales (NSW) now closed.

Victoria has recorded four new cases of COVID-19, which includes one case in hotel quarantine, since yesterday.

NSW has recorded four new COVID cases in the community in the last 48 hours. 

The Victoria state government website said following genomic testing, it was confirmed the new cases in Victoria originated from the NSW Northern Beaches outbreak.

A spokesperson for Air New Zealand said the quarantine-free flights from Auckland to Brisbane are a one-way only arrangement. 

Those returning to New Zealand will still need to quarantine for 14 days on arrival, provide payment for quarantine and register their managed isolation accommodation requirements via the New Zealand Government’s managed isolation quarantine website.

Any passengers who bookings are affected by these changes will be contacted by Air NZ or their travel agent.