Qantas and Jetstar slash fares and boost flights as border restrictions ease across Australia

Domestic airlines have sold thousands of seats in the past 24 hours and will triple flights on some routes as borders reopen and new Covid cases continue to drop. South Australia is set to open its borders to New South Wales on Wednesday night, after NSW registered no new cases of community transmission for the second day in a row. On Tuesday, NSW recorded two new cases of Covid-19, both returned travellers, and on Wednesday it recorded six new cases, all among returned travellers. On Tuesday, Queensland announced that residents of regional NSW will be allowed into the state from 1 October. ACT residents were also given the green light to fly into Queensland last week. Qantas and Jetstar said they will boost domestic flights as a result of the borders reopening, and have already sold 6,500 seats across the two brands in the past 24 hours. Jetstar will double its flight volume between NSW and SA from the current once a day to twice a day, starting on 1 October. That will rise to three times a day by 1 November. The budget airline has also launched a temporary sale for flights between Sydney and Adelaide, offering $59 flights, one way, from mid-October. Virgin Australia will restart its flights between Canberra and Adelaide, running return three times a week. Daily flights will start between Adelaide and Sydney on 2 October, rising to twice a day from 2 November. Daily return flights between Brisbane and Canberra will also be running by the end of October. From Thursday, Qantas will restart its Sydney to Adelaide route, which has been dormant since July.<br/>