Australia reopens full borders: ‘Welcome back’

A new era begins today, Monday (21/2) for Australia which fully opened its external borders to travelers vaccinated against coronavirus.

The Australian border has been closed for almost two years due to its pandemic coronavirus and so tourists began to return to the country and hundreds of people to meet relatives and friends again.

Over 50 internationals flights are scheduled to arrive in the country during the day, including 27 in Sydney, Australia’s largest city, while the tourism and hospitality industries are looking forward to their recovery after being pounded by COVID-19 restrictions.

“It’s a very exciting day, a day that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time, since the day I first closed the border right at the beginning of the pandemicSaid Prime Minister Scott Morrison to reporters from the island of Tasmania, which is highly dependent on tourism.

People who have been away from loved ones for months, according to the Athenian News Agency, citing the Australian media, met again with their own, such as Cindy Moss who traveled from Kentucky to see her daughter. “I just did not see her for so long and it was so important that I managed to get here. “I’m so excited,” she said excitedly after hugging her daughter.

For his part, Qantas pilot Paul Grant said he was happy to “welcome passengers back on the plane.”

A Qantas flight from Los Angeles was the first to land in Sydney, followed by aircraft from Tokyo, Vancouver and Singapore.

“We’ve all been waiting a long time (right now),” said Alan Joyce, general manager of Qantas Airlines.

The phrase “Welcome back” painted next to the runways

Tourism is one of the largest industries in the country, with a value of over 60 billion Australian dollars, which employs about 5% of the country’s workforce. But the industry has been hit hard since the country closed its borders in March 2020.

The country, once the “champion” of Covid’s zero-sum strategy, has since the end of last year moved away from a policy of checks that made it almost a ‘fortress’ and constant lockdowns and began to learn to live with the virus after succeeding. higher vaccination levels.

The phrase “Welcome back!” painted next to the runways welcomed passengers flying to Sydney while people in kangaroo costumes greeted travelers and a DJ played music from a van.

“It’s a party here, music is playing, people are smiling, I’m sure they will dance soon,” Tourism Minister Dan Tihan told ABC News from Sydney Airport as he offered travelers jars of Vegemite, a well-known Australian product, as a gift. smear, as well as plush koalas.

Optimism for the recovery of the tourism market

Tihan said he hoped for a “very strong” recovery in the tourism market, with Qantas expected to carry more than 14,000 passengers to Australia this week. Virgin Australia said there was a positive trend in domestic bookings and that it was continuing to assess demand for international flights.

However, all trains in Sydney were canceled today following a wage dispute between the workers’ union and the state government, affecting the positive climate created by the return of travelers from abroad.

As the country’s borders reopen, the outbreak of the Omicron variant in Australia seems to have already reached its peak with hospital admissions declining steadily over the past three weeks. The majority of the 2.7 million confirmed cases in Australia have been detected since Omicron appeared in late November. A total of 4,929 people have lost their lives.

As of this morning (local time), just over 17,000 new cases and 17 deaths had been reported, with data from the Northern Territory expected to be announced later.