New Zealand Travel Bubble Announcement

[jakeseven7]

Provided Qantas call it Taipei, China, not Taipei, Taiwan.

They've called Taipei, Taiwan, China for ages now I think.

 

[drron]

SYD-TPE direct would work. It’s just another city.

Not really.
"How companies deal with the vexed issue of China and Taiwan has been a political minefield for decades. In the 1990s, Qantas did serve Taiwan, but did so with aircraft shorn of the Australian flag or Qantas name so as not to ruffle feathers in Beijing. "

Qantas has been accused of giving into Beijing ‘bullying’

QANTAS has been accused of giving into Chinese “bullying” by making changes to its website and marketing materials so Taiwan is no longer listed as a separate country.

www.news.com.au

 

[dajop]

There are a multitude of carriers flying to TPE that have Taipei listed on their websites as part of China. I noticed some of them get around this issue by listing TPE as as part of NE Asia - alongside PEK, NRT, KIX, ICN, PVG, CAN, etc . Quite clever.

 

[JessicaTam]

[mod hat]
A reminder that this thread is for NZ bubble discussion, not TPE.

Please keep to the thread topic.
[/mod hat]

 

[kiwitripper64]

Does anyone have any info of pax numbers? I expect numbers would drop after the initial rush to reunite families, having a few Euro tourists move on to Aus on the world tour and a handful of businesses sending a rep over. Who else is travelling trans Tasman? And is anyone on the Syd-Akl flights?

 

[jakeseven7]

Does anyone have any info of pax numbers? I expect numbers would drop after the initial rush to reunite families, having a few Euro tourists move on to Aus on the world tour and a handful of businesses sending a rep over. Who else is travelling trans Tasman? And is anyone on the Syd-Akl flights?

Im sure someone will jump in with actual numbers but the QF group are only flying 4 x a week I think on narrow body aircraft so hardly anything as expected.

But it’s more a symbolic step than anything else, the opening of this bubble. As Australia’s cases are so microscopically low I would expect that NZ will have another solution for letting Aussies in more freely, probably before Christmas.

 

[Gremlin]

But it’s more a symbolic step than anything else, the opening of this bubble. As Australia’s cases are so microscopically low I would expect that NZ will have another solution for letting Aussies in more freely, probably before Christmas.

Maybe. But NZ have been consistently consistent in their expectations for quarantine free arrivals - 28 days without community transmission from the incoming jurisdiction. They've said that for months now, both before and after the election.

That's certainly possible before Christmas, but nothing I've heard out of the corridors of power in Wellington suggests NZ will move towards Australia's benchmarks - if Aussies want quarantine free travel then we need to move towards their benchmarks.

 

[jakeseven7]

Maybe. But NZ have been consistently consistent in their expectations for quarantine free arrivals - 28 days without community transmission from the incoming jurisdiction. They've said that for months now, both before and after the election.

That's certainly possible before Christmas, but nothing I've heard out of the corridors of power in Wellington suggests NZ will move towards Australia's benchmarks - if Aussies want quarantine free travel then we need to move towards their benchmarks.

We will move towards their benchmarks if we happen to in the process, but NZ desperately needs Australia more than we need them. Their economy is a disaster, has been hit far harder than us even with our engine room state VIC closed for so long and they are far more reliant on tourism than we are.

A safe PM just re-elected with a majority can make for very different thought process.... so we will wait and see..... There will also be HUGE pressure from families split up across the ditch that simply cannot afford the cost their quarantine process.

 

[kiwitripper64]

I have just looked at the NZ ministry website. it seems a that kiwis returning home and staying for more than 90 days are exempt from quarantine fees, unless they left after Aug 2020.
For non New Zealanders there seems to be no charge if NZ was your normal residence and you left NZ before March. And there is a waiver process that seems to allow most people so far an exemption from charges.
If your family was split before March with one person coming here to set up a new life, it would seem likely that no charges for quarantine would be laid on a family re-uniting. But that is just an opinion based on current smoke signals from Wellington.

Isolation and quarantine | Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

www.miq.govt.nz

 

[Mattg]

Does anyone have any info of pax numbers? I expect numbers would drop after the initial rush to reunite families, having a few Euro tourists move on to Aus on the world tour and a handful of businesses sending a rep over. Who else is travelling trans Tasman? And is anyone on the Syd-Akl flights?

Having a look at Expert Flyer, most of the AKL-SYD QF flights coming up look like this:

J9 C9 D0 I0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M0 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0 X8 E0

I don't think we can really read much into that though - QF would be blocking all the lower fare classes from sale intentionally.

If the numbers aren't publicly released before then, we should at least know in a few months when the BITRE data for October comes out.

 

[glasszon]

I have just looked at the NZ ministry website. it seems a that kiwis returning home and staying for more than 90 days are exempt from quarantine fees, unless they left after Aug 2020.
For non New Zealanders there seems to be no charge if NZ was your normal residence and you left NZ before March. And there is a waiver process that seems to allow most people so far an exemption from charges.
If your family was split before March with one person coming here to set up a new life, it would seem likely that no charges for quarantine would be laid on a family re-uniting. But that is just an opinion based on current smoke signals from Wellington.

Isolation and quarantine | Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

www.miq.govt.nz

Quarantine cost is only part of the problem: There are many dual AU/NZ citizens and they are not allowed to visit NZ due to the international travel ban, and I don't see AU relaxing the travel ban for NZ unless NZ allows quarantine-free travel, so as things stand lots of Kiwis are stuck here and won't be able to visit their family in NZ for Christmas.

 

[antycbr]

Speculation that the NZ Government will make the bubble two way in the coming month. Queensland and WA will be excluded from the bubble. DFAT are apparently close to finalising negotiations with the NZ government.

 

[Gremlin]

Speculation that the NZ Government will make the bubble two way in the coming month. Queensland and WA will be excluded from the bubble. DFAT are apparently close to finalising negotiations with the NZ government.

Ok. That's quite different to what I've heard from my sources in Wellington. NZ are looking at a model very similar to what WA just announced. No community cases for 28 days in the jurisdiction for quarantine-free travel. Travel allowed with quarantine from other jurisdictions.

Of course, the Australian Govt may choose not to allow Qlders and West Aussies to depart, but that's a different decision point as to who NZ will choose to accept.

 

[MikeG]

Looks like australia has lifted the travel ban for NZ as of today. Still a need to isolate upon arrival in NZ though. No such requirement coming back though.

NZ is pretty easy when requesting alternative self-isolation options...

 

[glasszon]

Looks like australia has lifted the travel ban for NZ as of today. Still a need to isolate upon arrival in NZ though. No such requirement coming back though.

NZ is pretty easy when requesting alternative self-isolation options...

Where did you see that? This is what I find on the website:
Travelling from Australia to New Zealand
If you are an Australian citizen or a permanent resident you cannot leave Australia due to COVID-19 restrictions unless you have an exemption. You will be subject to New Zealand entry requirements.

Temporary visa holders do not need an exemption to depart Australia.

Source: New Zealand safe travel zone | COVID-19 and the border

 

[kiwitripper64]

Wow, Events are still changing faster than regulations.
If you are an Australian citizen or a permanent resident you cannot leave Australia due to COVID-19 restrictions unless you have an exemption.
I just read through these.
New Zealand safe travel zone | COVID-19 and the border
Exemptions include picking up a sick child, national interest, education of more than 3 months etc. There is a clause about work contracts that could be used for some for travel to NZ.
It appears that the rules have not been amended for NZ travel. If you have to apply for an exemption there seems to be no "quick holiday to see relatives in covid free area" exemption clause.
It is also unclear about what happens if you are a Aus citizen living in NZ. If you travel back to Aus for a visit, it looks like you would have to apply for an exemption to leave and return to NZ.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Wow, Events are still changing faster than regulations.
If you are an Australian citizen or a permanent resident you cannot leave Australia due to COVID-19 restrictions unless you have an exemption.
I just read through these.
New Zealand safe travel zone | COVID-19 and the border
Exemptions include picking up a sick child, national interest, education of more than 3 months etc. There is a clause about work contracts that could be used for some for travel to NZ.
It appears that the rules have not been amended for NZ travel. If you have to apply for an exemption there seems to be no "quick holiday to see relatives in covid free area" exemption clause.
It is also unclear about what happens if you are a Aus citizen living in NZ. If you travel back to Aus for a visit, it looks like you would have to apply for an exemption to leave and return to NZ.

Yes, Australian citizens have been leaving Australia under an exemption where for example they could prove their tax residency (immediately prior to COVID) was another country or a new job overseas.

 

[Gremlin]

Ardern made comments today stating they have no intention of opening up quarantine-free travel to Australian arrivals this year.

No Travel Bubble in 2020

Interesting stat in the article about where NZ's unemployment is now at (spoiler: It's much, much better than Australia's and the wider OECD)...

 

[drron]

Ardern made comments today stating they have no intention of opening up quarantine-free travel to Australian arrivals this year.

No Travel Bubble in 2020

Interesting stat in the article about where NZ's unemployment is now at (spoiler: It's much, much better than Australia's and the wider OECD)...

Don't always believe a politician's figures.They left out that a virtually identical number had left employment altogether and roughly 2.5 times that number were working less hours.
So it is virtually equal to our unemployed + underemployed figures reported by Roy Morgan of 22.7% as of 30/9 this year.

And just to make it a little worse NZ changed the definition of unemployment back in 2015 ie Pre JA.The effect was to lower the reported unemployment rate.

National exploits fudged Statistics NZ unemployment figures | The Daily Blog

 

[jakeseven7]

Ardern made comments today stating they have no intention of opening up quarantine-free travel to Australian arrivals this year.

No Travel Bubble in 2020

Interesting stat in the article about where NZ's unemployment is now at (spoiler: It's much, much better than Australia's and the wider OECD)...

I honestly don’t think there will be international travel bubbles anywhere... not until there is an effective vaccine.