MELBOURNE, (The Southern African Times) – Australia’s national airline Qantas has reopened bookings for international flights from July 2021 in the hopes that vaccinations will have begun to curb the spread of the coronavirus and travel demand will pick up.
Ticket sales for Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, which had been set to start in March, have been pushed back to July, while other destinations like London and South Africa have been brought forward from October.
At the time of writing, it is possible to book a ticket between OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg to Sydney in the first week of July. New Zealand is the only overseas destination to which Qantas is currently flying.
“Recently we have aligned the selling of our international services to reflect our expectation that international travel will begin to restart from July 2021,” Qantas said. “We continue to review and update our international schedule in response to the developing Covid-19 situation.”
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has previously said that a vaccine will be necessary for quarantine-free travel to resume to the US and the UK, Bloomberg reported
The Australian government has banned citizens from leaving the country unless they receive an exemption, which can include travel for business, as part of the coronavirus fight or on compassionate grounds.
South Africa does not currently have country limitations in effect, provided passengers follow the required health and safety guidelines and produce the correct Covid-19 test documentation.
