New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been showered no shortage of praise recently for the country’s battle against Covid-19, and rightfully so, as New Zealand cleared its final case of the coronavirus.
This also means that the country will lift all pandemic restrictions and fully resume social and economic activities, a welcome change indeed after a strict seven-week lockdown.
With that comes the opening of domestic travel as Air New Zealand, the country’s flagship carrier ramps up operations and opens travel routes within New Zealand.
While international travel may have to wait for a little while longer, the chance of New Zealand opening its borders to the rest of the world is within as talks of travel bubbles are developing, starting with a place not too far from them…
Travel Bubbles Could Happen Between Australia and New Zealand
Australia has started to wind back its own restrictions as Covid-19 cases are steadily being contained. Similar to New Zealand, domestic travel will resume first while overseas flights will continue to be on hold.
With that said, we could start to see travel bubbles forming between New Zealand and Australia as early as September. This will be part of a joint trans-Tasman travel bubble that could include other Pacific Island nations such as Fiji, Vanautu and New Caledonia.
As neighbouring travel bubbles form, there are plans to extend to countries like Japan, South Korea, and even China.
This gradual opening of bubbles at the very least signals a shift in countries’ perceptions towards travel in the current pandemic situation. Singapore, for one, has been in talks with China and other countries in the region to develop safe “green lanes” for business travel primarily.
The hope is that as more countries stabilise and contain the virus, we can slowly explore the potential and possibility of international travel, something that all of yearns will happen sooner rather than later.
