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Qantas has pushed back a planned resumption of international flights, following indications from the Australian government that the country’s borders will only reopen in 2022. The carrier delayed its international restart from end-October to late-December, though it notes that flights to and from New Zealand — which fall under the ambit of the Trans-Tasman travel bubble arrangement — are not affected. In its federal budget on 11 May, Canberra hinted that international borders will remain closed for most of the year as an inoculation drive gets underway, with international travel likely to “remain low” through mid-2022. “The rate of international arrivals will continue to be constrained by state and territory quarantine caps over 2021 and the first half of 2022, with the exception of passengers from safe travel zones,” the Australian budget papers state. It follows comments made by several Australian politicians that borders will likely only reopen in the second half of 2022. <br/>

The government has committed to funding another 100 Qantas repatriation flights over the next year. The flag carrier has been using its 787 Dreamliners for the missions, which have a capacity to carry around 170 passengers each, meaning 17,000 more stranded Australians can return. Tuesday night’s federal budget revealed the new flights will form part of a $119.9m boost to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s consular program, which will include money for 46 additional staff. The expansion, set to roll out over “the coming months”, coincides with the Howard Springs quarantine facility planning to double its capacity, from 850 to 2,000 per fortnight. Howard Springs first took in large numbers of international travellers in October 2020 when it initially expanded its capacity. The budget also revealed 18,800 Australians have flown home on 127 government-sponsored flights, out of a total of 45,400 returnees, most of whom would have flown with commercial airlines such as Qatar.<br/>