Predictions of when international flights may resume/bans lifted

[drron]

Though probable that some of those negative PCR tests before boarding were fraudulent.

 

[jrfsp]

What will be the policy if you test positive? Will you get a free rebooking for the travelling party, is there any clarity?

If QF want to have a PCR as a condition of carriage thats fine but why only for intl sectors? Surely the risk of transmission isnt any less for domestic with "fleeting contact".

EDIT: Found on the QF website:

"If you have received a positive COVID-19 PCR result prior to your flight you will be unable to travel and subject to and public health orders in your state.

You need to contact Qantas to discuss your options.

Through our Fly Flexible policy, with your international booking you will also have the flexibility to make fee free date changes for travel until 31 December 2022 (a fare difference may apply)."

Sounds like youll get a free "change" subject to a different fare......

 

[guiguioz]

Anyone got a non paywalled version ?

International airlines operating to Australia say they need more information before they can sell seats on flights ahead of November’s reopening of national borders.

Spoiler: Continues

While Qantas wasted no time launching the sale of flights to the US and Britain from November 14, carriers like Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines were more cautious.

Board of Airline Representatives of Australia executive director Barry Abrams said that was because they were still seeking clarification on several issues, including caps on unvaccinated travellers.

He said it was reasonable to think a proportion of the 48,000 Australians still stranded overseas were not vaccinated and would still require mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival.

Until airlines knew how many unvaccinated passengers they could carry into the country, it would be difficult to start taking bookings.
<redacted>

 

[Tiki]

I have been searching SQ Y seats for IST-SIN-BNE. No award seats until 1 April and those are waitlist. Outbound is no problem, the problem is SIN to anywhere in Australia. Are all the flights booked by stranded Aussies? If Qld plays ball, I want to do this trip asap after Christmas to avoid the holiday rush. Mid Jan onwards-ish. I won't book anything until confirmation that we can travel AND return. Just looking for now.

 

[wenglock.mok]

I have been searching SQ Y seats for IST-SIN-BNE. No award seats until 1 April and those are waitlist. Outbound is no problem, the problem is SIN to anywhere in Australia. Are all the flights booked by stranded Aussies? If Qld plays ball, I want to do this trip asap after Christmas to avoid the holiday rush. Mid Jan onwards-ish. I won't book anything until confirmation that we can travel AND return. Just looking for now.

As far as I can see, SQ has capped all their flights inbound to Australia up to the end of July 2022, which explains why there is literally no/very limited availability for the flights into Australian ports. From the news article above, it seems they are one of many overseas airlines trying to work out how many seats they can actually sell for inbound flights, and to whom, before they plan on re-opening inventory.

 

[OATEK]

There weren't huge numbers, but it showed that negative PCR tests aren't necessarily a guaranteed indicator everyone on the flight will be covid free. If I have choice down the track of having to pay $150 for a PCR test on one airline but not another, it could be a determining factor on which airline I choose (could add $1200 plus a huge inconvenience on a family of four travelling... especially if needing to get an airline mandated - but not country mandated - PCR for the return leg)

The thing we don't know is how many who tested negative on one day and positive a few days later were fully vaccinated. This is what we expect for Australians coming and going - that they will be fully vaccinated and therefore less likely to get sick, infect others etc.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The thing we don't know is how many who tested negative on one day and positive a few days later were fully vaccinated. This is what we expect for Australians coming and going - that they will be fully vaccinated and therefore less likely to get sick, infect others etc.

Agree. I was just exploring the potential benefits of a PCR-mandating airline vs one that doesn't. What would be the actual risk reduction for the potentially significant cost outlay.

 

[Pom-DownUnder]

I have been searching SQ Y seats for IST-SIN-BNE. No award seats until 1 April and those are waitlist. Outbound is no problem, the problem is SIN to anywhere in Australia. Are all the flights booked by stranded Aussies? If Qld plays ball, I want to do this trip asap after Christmas to avoid the holiday rush. Mid Jan onwards-ish. I won't book anything until confirmation that we can travel AND return. Just looking for now.

For what its worth ...

I had a flight disappear a couple of months ago SIN-SYD i called up to see what the drama was as I wanted to maintain the flights leading to SIN even if i needed to sort myself out from there.

There was flights that the operator on the phone could see that I could not see/book into through the QF website, and I have a seat on one of those. Although it 'errors' whenever I try and look at things like seat allocation I was assured on the phone that the flight will occur and seat options etc will open up eventually (I assume at that point it will be open slather for any other seats remaining)

Give em a call is my recommendation.

Of course thats sometimes 90 mins to get immediately cut off, or over 2 hours to speak to someone but found when you get to the speak to point they are actually pretty good ...

 

[Telemachus]

I’ve found a statement from Services Australia about how the new international vaccination certificates will work for those of us who are dual citizens. Previous posts in this thread have provided basic details of the certificates (ICAO-compliant Visual Digital Seal etc) which will start to become available this month, but the certificate’s link to the subject’s Australian passport left me still uncertain about proof of vaccination when entering another country on a non-AU passport.

The Senate Covid-10 Enquiry took evidence from Services Australia on 30 Sep. Reading the transcript over the weekend I came across this passage which I don’t think has been reported by the media:

‘Senator KITCHING: I want to go to passports. There was a briefing given yesterday by Mr Robert and Senator Reynolds. You put in your passport number, there's back-end work, and your passport is then listed as having a certificate. But what happens with dual or multiple passport holders—people who may go out of the country on one passport because, say, they're lucky enough to be going to Europe? What happens if they come back on another? What happens if they're dual passport holders?
Mr Howard: There is the digital process, which Mr McHardie described earlier, which is for Australian passport holders—Australian citizens. For those people out there who have a dual citizenship, at the moment there's an assisted staff channel to enable them to get the certificate. They just need to ring Services Australia and we will be able to help them get the certificate for their foreign passport as well. There are plans in place for us to automate that process—to give a digital option to dual citizens—but that's going to take us a little bit more time. In the meantime, there's a staff assisted channel. You just need to ring the agency.’

To see this exchange in context it’s on p16 of the PDF of the transcript here; other discussion of the international certificate (as reported in the media) is on p11.

 

[Virgin Bart]

On Singapore. If (probably when) Australia is added to the Vaccinated Travel List (VTL) then the following currently applies:

PCR pre-departure: $150
PCR on arrival: $120
PCR day 3: $100
PCR day 7: $100
Possible PCR pre-return: $100

Perhaps not unexpected and not unique to Singapore, but a real dampener...

 

[somebol]

Still no additional capacity added to / from Australia by any airlines except QF.
Wish ScoMo would hurry up and announce the details all airlines are after.

 

[Flashback]

Still no additional capacity added to / from Australia by any airlines except QF.
Wish ScoMo would hurry up and announce the details all airlines are after.

Like an increase in the arrivals caps.......

 

[drron]

Like an increase in the arrivals caps.......

But that will be up to each State or Territory and no matter what they have agreed to means nothing going forward.

 

[dvt]

Just arrived in the UK, fully vaccinated in Australia with Pfizer. Used British passport entering through E gate. Had printout of Medicare vaccination record and passenger locator form but there were no checks at all, didn't speak to a single person!

 

[flyinpod]

I wish the QLD Premier would hurry up and and tell us if we can or cannot return . I have a trip to the US partly booked at the beginning of Feb. I want to book the rest, (connecting flights) make work plans etc. I couldn't afford to pay )or would want to, 2 weeks hotel quarantine.

 

[Telemachus]

Still no additional capacity added to / from Australia by any airlines except QF.
Wish ScoMo would hurry up and announce the details all airlines are after.

Is there a game of bluff going on here or has the AU govt just not thought it through fully? International carriers say they aren’t releasing additional inventory on already scheduled inbound flights – let alone putting on more services – because they are concerned about the shambles that may ensue if/when more unvaccinated pax present themselves at overseas check-in than can be accommodated for HQ at the AU port of arrival. The carriers are also grumbling about having no means to flag vax status earlier at the point of booking.

These issues aren’t going to be fully resolved by governments confirming what the revised caps for unvaccinated pax will be, noting also that the PM’s statement has already confirmed that those caps should be at the original levels.

QF and a few other carriers have no such problems because of their vaccination mandate for all pax. Is the government’s intent to do and say nothing until the remaining carriers decide to impose their own mandates? And that would leave the special 'red flight' option for the unvaccinated.

Edit: Hard to quantify demand from unvaccinated returnees though you would hope that DFAT has relevant data for people who have registered for return. Some are in countries where there will have been insufficient access to vaccination; others have had the 'wrong' vaccine (not yet recognised by Australia) and who will therefore be managed for entry to Australia as though unvaccinated.

 

[Flashback]

Just arrived in the UK, fully vaccinated in Australia with Pfizer. Used British passport entering through E gate. Had printout of Medicare vaccination record and passenger locator form but there were no checks at all, didn't speak to a single person!

Yes, Border Force were instructed some time ago to no longer do manual document checks. Instead there are random spot checks on people's PLFs and supporting documentation. You could have used your Aussie passport in the eGates no issues also, but of course best to use a UK passport if arriving in the UK.

 

[jb747]

Still no additional capacity added to / from Australia by any airlines except QF.
Wish ScoMo would hurry up and announce the details all airlines are after.

From what I've heard, the company is starting to ramp up the 787 people, but nobody else. The vast majority of the domestic people, who had been working, are back in limbo.

I wish the QLD Premier would hurry up and and tell us if we can or cannot return . I have a trip to the US partly booked at the beginning of Feb. I want to book the rest, (connecting flights) make work plans etc. I couldn't afford to pay )or would want to, 2 weeks hotel quarantine.

It will be open for the Olympics. Maybe.

 

[guiguioz]

Is there a game of bluff going on here or has the AU govt just not thought it through fully? International carriers say they aren’t releasing additional inventory on already scheduled inbound flights – let alone putting on more services – because they are concerned about the shambles that may ensue if/when more unvaccinated pax present themselves at overseas check-in than can be accommodated for HQ at the AU port of arrival. The carriers are also grumbling about having no means to flag vax status earlier at the point of booking.

These issues aren’t going to be fully resolved by governments confirming what the revised caps for unvaccinated pax will be, noting also that the PM’s statement has already confirmed that those caps should be at the original levels.

QF and a few other carriers have no such problems because of their vaccination mandate for all pax. Is the government’s intent to do and say nothing until the remaining carriers decide to impose their own mandates? And that would leave the special 'red flight' option for the unvaccinated.

The foreign airlines are definitively lobbying the government and trying to get fewer restrictions.
I am not convinced by their argument as you would assume that there would not be too many unvaccinated Australian travellers willing to come back and do hotel quarantine.
They would be better off running flights for vaccinated travellers (+ kids) only (something they will need to get used to for NZ as well). The demand for outbound travel in Nov/Dec/Jan is huge and currently not well catered for by QF (for instance for anyone travelling to Europe outside of London). I suspect the first ones of the likes of EK/QR/EY/SQ to release inventory for inbound flights for those months (outbound flights are plentiful) will get a lot of bookings (including mine) fairly quickly.

 

[Tiki]

I wish the QLD premier would hurry up and and tell us if we can or cannot return . I have a trip to the US partly booked at the beginning of Feb. I want to book the rest, (connecting flights) make work plans etc. I couldn't afford to pay )or would want to, 2 weeks hotel quarantine.

Yeah I am stressing over this too. She just keeps coming up with excuses. "What about the children? Now she is trying to grab more money for hospitals. She needs to commit to the opening plan. Why does she keep stalling when Qld needs overseas tourists?