Australia reopened its borders Monday, nearly 600 days after they were closed, an event that led to emotional scenes of reunion at Sydney airport.
On March 20, 2020, the vast island continent instituted one of the world’s strictest border closures to protect itself from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tens of thousands of Australians living overseas were unable to return to their home country for 19 months. Flights were scarce and those allowed to return had to undergo an expensive 14-day hotel quarantine.
The country’s two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, decided to drop these measures and fully vaccinated Australians can now travel without quarantine.
Australian airline Qantas had grounded much of its fleet and its CEO Alan Joyce welcomed the resumption of international flights, which “has been a long time coming.”
“It’s wonderful to see that Australians can be reunited with their loved ones after such a long period of separation,” he said.
“This is a great day for Australia,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison, posting a message on Facebook saying the country was now “ready for takeoff!”
The frequency of flights should resume gradually even if the passengers on board the first flights were few.
More than a million foreign residents remain stranded in Australia, unable to return to see their friends or family, as the easing measures apply mainly to Australian citizens.
Some Australian states where vaccination rates remain low will remain virtually closed. A mandatory 14-day quarantine will remain in place.
