“Hello & kia ora & g’day & welcome” a sign waved at Auckland International Airport said yesterday morning as Australian travelers set foot on New Zealand soil for the first time since the short-lived travel bubble between the two countries abruptly ended in the middle of last year.
More than 4,000 people traveling from Australia on Air New Zealand flights were yesterday expected to arrive at Auckland and Wellington airports, after the COVID-19 border restrictions lifted at midnight.
Vaccinated Australians and permanent residents can enter New Zealand with no other requirements than to self-test for COVID-19 on arrival.
Photo: Reuters
That marks the first step in welcoming international visitors back to the country again — a long wait for many, which was evident as family and friends greeted arrivals with tears and embraces, to the backdrop of waiata (Maori song).
Constanza Munoz told national broadcaster Radio New Zealand that she had been waiting for her sister’s arrival at the airport since 4am.
“I couldn’t sleep last night, I am very excited, I am shaking,” she said, adding that many members of her family had yet to meet her daughter, born in 2020, and she had been dreaming of this moment for a long time.
An earlier border reopening announcement last year was derailed by the arrival of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.
International visitors are to be allowed to enter New Zealand from October, unless the government decides it is safe to do so earlier.
The government yesterday announced that the entire country would move down COVID-19 alert levels as cases continue to drop.
There are no longer limits on gatherings, but masks would still be required on public transport and flights, as well as within close-proximity businesses.
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