Australia has outlined plans to lift the travel ban for international flights from November, after a prolonged period of 18 months. This move comes as nearly 80 per cent of the population, aged 16 and older, has been fully vaccinated. As per the reports, the nation imposed some of the toughest restrictions to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. This latest step was recently announced by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison; however, as of now, no official date has been declared for welcoming international tourists back.
Reportedly, since Australia imposed one of the most strict restrictions on March 20 last year to tackle the virus, Australians had to argue for rare exemptions from the travel restrictions. Reports have it that many people failed to fulfil their commitments just because Australia was trying to keep COVID-19 disease at bay.
Only those who were essential workers or government employees were exempted from the travel ban, whereas tourism was not accepted as a reason to cross the border.
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Referring to the tough times, the Australian Prime Minister added, “We’ve saved lives. We’ve saved livelihoods, but we must work together to ensure that Australians can reclaim the lives that they once had in this country.”
Revealing more about the latest plan, the Prime Minister stated that New South Wales will likely become the first state to reach the 80 per cent vaccination benchmark, whereas Sydney’s airport will be the first to resume international flights. Meanwhile, Sydney-based Qantas Airways has already announced that international flights to London and Los Angeles would restart operations from November 14.
