Australia has finally reopened its international border for the first time in nearly two years, bringing together families in tearful reunions.
The country closed its borders to tourists in March 2020 and imposed one of the world’s strictest travel bans.
While Australians and some other travellers began returning late last year, most foreigners have endured a painful wait to go back down under.
Double-jabbed visitors began landing in Australia today and they will not have to quarantine, unlike unvaccinated travellers who must pay to stay in a hotel for up to 14 days.
British tourist Sue Witton tearfully hugged her son Simon Witton when he greeted her at Melbourne’s airport.
‘Seven hundred and twenty-four (days) apart and he’s my only son, and I’m alone, so this means the world to me,’ she said.
‘I don’t want to let go. I really don’t want to let go. Oh, it’s just beautiful. Thank you for having me back. We are just so grateful, so, so grateful,’ she added.
One young girl, Charlotte Roempke, 8, gave her grandfather Bernie Edmonds a long-awaited hug at Sydney airport. She told reporters: ‘I’ve missed him so much and I’ve looked forward to this trip for so long.’
Other arrivals were met by jubilant well-wishers waving toy koalas and favourite Australian foods, including Tim Tams cookies and Vegemite.
Federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan welcomed the first passengers on a Qantas flight from Los Angeles at 6.20am.
‘I think there’ll be a very strong rebound in our tourism market. Our wonderful experiences haven’t gone away,’ Tehan said.
The vaccination status of any traveller will now be checked before they arrive to avoid a repeat of Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic’s visa debacle.
Djokovic was issued a visa through an automated process before he left Spain to compete in the Australian Open in January, but was deported after he arrived in Melbourne because he was not vaccinated.
Tourism Australia managing director Phillipa Harrison said she expected tourist numbers would take two years to rebound to pre-pandemic levels.
‘This is a really great start,’ Harrison said. ‘This is what the industry had been asking us for, you know, just give us our international guests back and we will take it from there’
Qantas began bringing in passengers from eight overseas destinations including Vancouver, Singapore, London, and Delhi.
Chief executive Alan Joyce said bookings had been strong since the federal government announced it was relaxing restrictions.
‘It has been tough two years for everybody in the tourism industry, but today is really one of the big steps on the way back to a full recovery so we are very excited about today,’ he said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said 1.2 million people had visas to enter Australia with 56 international flights due to touch down in the first 24 hours of the border reopening.
Australia on Monday reported 17,736 new Covid infections in the latest 24-hour period and 34 deaths. Its toll since the pandemic began is 4,929.
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