Etihad Airways will stop all flights to Brisbane because the route is commercially unviable, as Australia continues to limit the number of passengers airlines can bring into the country. Despite the recent increase in the cap on arrivals from 4,000 to 5,500 passengers per week, Etihad’s decision to pull out of its Abu Dhabi to Brisbane route for commercial reasons follows Malaysia Airlines’ decision in September to halt flights to Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide in light of the introduction of the arrival caps. On Wednesday, treasurer Josh Frydenberg appeared to suggest Australia’s tough border restrictions will continue to affect international airlines’ operations, as he said the federal budget he handed down on Tuesday relied on assumptions that Australia’s international borders will be closed until “late next year”. “International travel, including by tourists and international students, is assumed to remain largely closed off until late next year and then gradually return over time, and a vaccine to be available around the end of 2021 is one of the assumptions in the budget,” Frydenberg told the National Press Club. Explaining what prompted the flight changes, an Etihad spokesman said “the decision to cancel the [Abu Dhabi to Brisbane] route is a commercial one, and a direct consequence of the impact of Covid-19 on global travel and tourism demand. We will work closely with impacted guests and travel agents to notify them of the changes to their itineraries and re-accommodate them on alternative flights.” The spokesman noted Etihad will continue to fly to Sydney and Melbourne, however the latter city has not been accepting any international passengers since the escalation of its second wave of Covid-19.<br/>