People hugged and cried tears of joy as they reunited with their loved ones after the long break. Some said they’ve been apart for up to three years and expanded on the mental suffering of not being able to see their families due to the curbs.
Some 1,500 passengers were expected to fly into Sydney and Melbourne during the first day of eased restrictions, the airline industry group BARA has said.
Kljub temu, da so za Avstralce odklenjene mednarodne meje v državah Viktorija in Novi Južni Wales (NSW) ter na avstralskem glavnem ozemlju, država še vedno ostaja zaprta za tuje turiste, razen za tiste iz sosednje Nove Zelandije.
The next group to be allowed entry to Avstralija are the citizens of Singapur, who’ll be able to make the trip from November 21.
“We still have a long way to go in terms of the recovery of our sector, but allowing fully vaccinated Australians to travel without quarantine will provide the template for bringing back students, business travelers, and tourists from all over the world,” Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said.
But while Australia is reopening to the world after almost 600 days, limitations on travel remain inside the country. The residents of Western Australia are still largely cut off from the rest of the nation as the state is vigorously trying to protect its virus-free status. Travelers from “extreme risk” jurisdictions – like Victoria and NSW, which went through months of lockdowns – require an exemption to enter Western Australia.