Qantas to restart international flights from December
The Qantas Group has provided more detail on preparations for restarting its international flights, with plans linked to the vaccine rollout in Australia and key overseas markets
On current projections, Australia is expected to reach National Cabinet’s ‘Phase C’ vaccination threshold of 80 per cent in December 2021, which would trigger the gradual reopening of international borders. Similarly, key markets like the UK, North America and parts of Asia have high and increasing levels of vaccination, which, said Qantas, makes them highly likely to be classed as low-risk countries for vaccinated travellers to visit and return from under reduced quarantine requirements, pending decisions by the Australian Government and entry policies of other countries.
Vaccination rates allow for flight restart plans
This creates a range of potential travel options that Qantas and Jetstar are now preparing for. While Covid has shown that circumstances can change unexpectedly, the long lead times for international readiness means the Group needs to make some reasonable assumptions based on the latest data to make sure it can offer flights to customers as soon as they become feasible.
The company stated: “Flights to destinations that still have low vaccine rates and high levels of Covid infection will now be pushed out from December 2021 until April 2022 – including Bali, Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok, Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City and Johannesburg. Levels of travel demand – and therefore, capacity levels – will hinge largely on government decisions on alternative requirements to mandatory hotel isolation for fully vaccinated travellers.”
Assuming current projections hold and the 80 per cent vaccine threshold is met in December, Qantas and Jetstar plan to trigger a gradual restart as outlined below. If those assumptions change or dates move, the restart plans will adjust accordingly.