Air New Zealand to launch quarantine-free flights to Queensland on Thursday

Air NZ has announced its first quarantine-free flights to Queensland will begin on Thursday. Flight NZ147 will leave Auckland at 7.40am and passengers will not have to quarantine on arrival in Brisbane. It will operate similarly to existing flights to Sydney and Melbourne, with quarantine-free flights for people whose travel originates in New Zealand, and quarantine flights for people who do not meet the Safe Travel Zone criteria and who are required to quarantine on arrival in Australia. Air NZ chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said the airline had been working closely with authorities in Australia. “We currently operate five return flights per week between Auckland and Brisbane,” said Geraghty. “Three of these services will be quarantine-free flights, while the remaining two will be quarantine flights. Quarantine flights cannot be booked by people beginning their journey in New Zealand.” The airline said that before customers travelled to Australia they were required to complete the Australia Travel Declaration form stating they had been in New Zealand for the preceding 14 days. This is a one-way agreement as any travellers from Brisbane still need to quarantine in New Zealand for 14 days.<br/>