Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced the trans-Tasman travel bubble, allowing quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand, will commence on April 19.
Here's what we know:
- To be eligible for a quarantine-free flight, you must not have had a positive COVID-19 test result in the previous 14-days and you cannot be awaiting a test result.
- Those undertaking travel will do so under the guidance of "travel beware", because both countries will have the right to stop quarantine-free travel in the event of an outbreak.
- Australians travelling to New Zealand will arrive on 'green zone' flights. There will be no passengers on those flights who have come from anywhere but Australia in the last 14 days.
- Passengers will be required to wear a mask on their flight, and Australians will be asked to download and use the NZ COVID Tracer app while in New Zealand.
- Passengers will be taken through 'green zones' at the airport. There will be no contact with those who are arriving from other parts of the world and going into managed isolation or quarantine.
- Australia and New Zealand closed their international borders to non-citizens and residents in March 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Australia has allowed quarantine-free travel for Kiwis since October, state-by-state. New South Wales and Victoria currently allow quarantine-free travel for Kiwis, but it's not reciprocated by New Zealand.
- Quarantine-free travel between the two countries has been floated several times, but attempts have been quashed by breakouts on both sides of the ditch, and the Australian Federal Government changing its mind.
- Officials had concluded 11 rounds of talks with Australia on a joint set of rules, which is what New Zealand had been working towards, but Australia favoured each country having the right to suspend travel as they saw fit.
- An example came in January when Australia suddenly shut off quarantine-free travel for Kiwis in the wake of the Northland community case, which angered Jacinda Ardern because it left Kiwis stranded.
- There was speculation in Australian media the travel bubble would begin on April 12. Air New Zealand also appeared to be ramping up flights to Australia from April 9. But Ardern said the commencement date hadn't been shared prior to the announcement.
5:13pm - The Government's official Unite against COVID-19 unit has provided information on Twitter about the upcoming trans-Tasman travel bubble arrangement.
5:05pm - Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran says the airline will be ramping up flights between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown and eight of its Australian ports, in the wake of the trans-Tasman bubble announcement.
"This is terrific news. I know Kiwis and Australians have been wanting to reconnect with whānau and friends for a year now and we're incredibly excited to be playing a part in those reunions," Foran said.
"I'll certainly be digging out my passport for the first time since I joined the airline to head across the ditch to see my family and I'm especially looking forward to meeting some of my grandchildren for the first time."
He said the airline has been preparing for a few months now, bringing crew back on board and ensuring they are up to speed with training, along with making sure international airports and lounges are ready for the influx of customers.
And there's good news for those who have already booked flights to Australia before the bubble commences.
Air New Zealand's international flexibility policy was recently extended so customers with flights scheduled to depart before December 31 have the ability to opt into credit or make a change to the date or time of the flight, with change fees waived.
5pm - National leader Judith Collins says the Government should not consider the trans-Tasman bubble 'job done' when it comes to reconnecting New Zealand to the world.
"Australia was ready for quarantine-free travel last year, as were our airports. The delay in getting this bubble up and running has been on the New Zealand Government," Collins said.
"I want to thank the more than 45,000 people who signed National's petition and supported our call to get the trans-Tasman bubble open. It's clear the Government needed to be jolted into action on this."
She said the Government should now lay out its roadmap for how it plans to safely reconnect New Zealand to the world.
"National believes the Government should be allow quarantine-free travel from Samoa, Tonga and Fiji into New Zealand, alongside our realm countries."
4:56pm - Auckland Airport chief executive Adrian Littlewood says the facility is ready for the trans-Tasman bubble.
He said it will trigger a full operational split of Auckland Airport's international terminal to handle the physical separation of arrivals heading into managed isolation or quarantine.
The airport announced last August it was creating two fully separated zones within the international terminal to protect the health and safety of people flying to and from countries with which New Zealand had made quarantine-free arrangements.
"The full separation of travellers based on health risk is something we've been preparing to manage for some time now, working with Government border agencies and health officials on the solution," Littlewood said.
"It's a significant change to how we've been operating for more than a year now, but is a crucial step for ensuring the health and safety of the thousands of travellers that are going to be flying to and from safe travel zone countries, and the wider New Zealand community."
The main pier will be Zone A: Safe Travel area, which will be used by quarantine-free arrivals and all departures.
The travel bubble will help bring up the heavily declined number of passengers arriving in New Zealand.
In January last year, 453,657 arrived and departed Auckland Airport on trans-Tasman routes. In January this year, that had fallen 98 percent to 10,684 passengers.
4:50pm - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she "carries the weight" of promoting New Zealand to Australia, and will be doing a round of Australian media on Wednesday morning. She said she'll consider travelling there.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will soon travel to New Zealand for his face-to-face meeting with Ardern, although the date has not yet been finalised.
4:47pm - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government is "not anticipating charging" Australians who get stuck in New Zealand during their travel in the event of an outbreak.
4:43pm - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there are "no firm plans" for travel bubbles beyond trans-Tasman bubble, and the planned May commencement date of the Cook Islands bubble.
Ardern said the idea of a Singapore bubble has been floated for some time, but at this stage it's only a "hypothetical". If Australia decided to open up to Singapore, she said the Government would address it at the time.
4:40pm - Tourism New Zealand estimates quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand resuming will bring in $1 billion to the economy by the end of the year.
Prior to COVID-19, Australians made up almost 40 percent of international arrivals to New Zealand and contributed around 24 percent or $2.7 billion of New Zealand's annual international visitor spend.
Australians spent $2.7 billion in New Zealand in 2019.
With quarantine-free travel commencing on April 19, Tourism NZ interim chief executive René de Monchy says it could go some way in helping to reduce the estimated $12.9 billion expected gap from the loss of international visitors.
The same research shows 89 percent of New Zealanders believe that re-starting tourism when it is safe to do so is important for the wellbeing of New Zealanders.
4:33pm - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says if you have booked flights to Australia before the trans-Tasman bubble date, airlines have indicated they will allow rebooking of those flights. Ardern suggested rebooking the flight and cancelling your space in MIQ.
4:28pm - Business NZ chief executive Kirk Hope says the announcement of a trans-Tasman travel bubble is a win for both side of the ditch.
"New Zealand's tourism and hospitality sectors have suffered the full force of COVID-19. Today's news will give them great encouragement that there is light at the end of the tunnel," Hope said.
''Australia is our second biggest trading partner and New Zealand's largest international visitor market, accounting for almost half of all international visitor arrivals so this is an important step in getting our key service sectors operating again."
4:25pm - COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says it's estimated the trans-Tasman travel bubble will free up 1000 to 1300 rooms per fortnight within managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ).
Of those, the Government will retain roughly 500 spaces as contingency should they be needed for the Trans-Tasman arrangement.
The Government is also considering decommissioning some of the facilities, which are considered only suitable for travellers from low-risk countries.
"We also have a small number of facilities that we consider to have only been suitable for travellers in quarantine from low risk countries," Hipkins said.
"With the opening of travel, we will look to decommission these facilities - but in the meantime we are considering whether they could be used for other low risk countries, such as the Pacific Islands."
Because of that, Hipkins said the Government does not anticipate a large number of vacant quarantine spaces to come on stream.
There will, however, still be thousands of spaces in MIQ for Kiwis," he said. "That's how we have helped 130,000 safely return home through our managed isolation facilities."
4:18pm - Autumn school holidays begin on April 17 and end on May 2 in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says school holidays did not factor into the Government's decision-making on the trans-Tasman bubble.
4:15pm - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she's been advised by Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield that the risk of transmission of COVID-19 from Australia to New Zealand is low and that quarantine free travel is safe to commence.
But Dr Bloomfield will be providing an update next Wednesday about whether he believes the recent outbreak in Queensland is contained.
4:10pm - The Government has provided a breakdown of how a COVID-19 case in Australia would be managed under the quarantine-free travel arrangement.
4:05pm - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins have confirmed the conditions for starting up quarantine-free travel with Australia.
To be eligible to travel to or from New Zealand on a quarantine-free flight, you must not have had a positive COVID-19 test result in the previous 14-day period and must not be awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test taken during that 14-day period.
Australians travelling to New Zealand will arrive on 'green zone' flights. That means that there will be no passengers on that flight who have come from anywhere but Australia in the last 14 days.
They will also be flown by crew who have not flown on any high-risk routes.
"Passengers will need to provide comprehensive information on how they can be contacted while in New Zealand, complete a pre-departure health declaration and won't be able to travel if they have cold or flu symptoms," Hipkins said.
"When they fly, they will be required to wear a mask on their flight, and will also be asked to download and use the NZ COVID Tracer app while in New Zealand."
On arrival, Hipkins said passengers will be taken through 'green zones' at the airport, meaning there will be no contact with those who are arriving from other parts of the world and going into managed isolation or quarantine.
"We will also be undertaking random temperature checks of those arriving as an added precaution," Hipkins said.
Final infection control audits for airports are occurring over the next two weeks and are a requirement for each airport to operate. The Ministry of Health expects to have completed these and to have reported on them April 16.
4pm - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced the trans-Tasman travel bubble, allowing quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand, will commence on April 19.
3:55pm - The Prime Minister will announce at 4pm when the trans-Tasman travel bubble will commence during a press conference at the Beehive in Wellington.
3:35pm - National leader Judith Collins told reporters earlier on Tuesday she thinks National's online petition urging the Government to get a move on with the trans-Tasman travel bubble deserves the "biggest credit" for making it happen.
3:15pm - In a grilling by ACT leader David Seymour, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern defended in Parliament how long it has taken the Government to get travel bubbles up and running.
Seymour asked: "Does the Prime Minister think it's smart that people from countries that have never had a case of COVID are quarantined for 14 days next door to people from COVID hotspots?"
Ardern said in each case there will be different circumstances, and explained how the planned May commencement date of a Cook Islands travel bubble came from confidence that it could be undertaken safely.
On Australia, Ardern said: "They of course have a state system which has led to complications for them around movement. They have not also simultaneously opened up to New Zealand... not all states have opened to New Zealand. So I don't think it's a fair comparison to what they've done as a country and what we have done as a country."
3pm - ACT leader David Seymour has grilled Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern about the trans-Tasman bubble announcement and why it has taken so long to get underway.
Seymour asked Ardern in Parliament if she stood by her statement in April last year that border restrictions imposed in the wake of COVID-19 didn't mean New Zealand couldn't have the "smartest borders in the world".
Seymour asked: "Does she believe that in April 2021 we now have the smartest borders in the world?"
Ardern responded: "New Zealand has internationally been acknowledged for our elimination strategy and response to COVID-19 and our work at the border has been crucial to our response.
"It is important to note we continue to learn and improve as we move through our response. But our announcement later today on quarantine-free travel with Australia will represent a new chapter in our response and recovery to COVID-19."
1pm - The Ministry of Health has reported no new community cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand, but there are 17 new positive cases in managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ).
The Ministry of Health said the case numbers in MIQ underscore the value of having in place day one testing, as 13 out of the 17 cases were identified with this method.
In addition to day one testing, in January, the Government announced it was extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand.
The policy does not apply to travellers from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands.
12pm - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is quashing rumours about when the trans-Tasman travel bubble will commence, ahead of the 4pm announcement.
According to The Australian newspaper, Australian Federal Government and industry sources say the bubble is expected to begin on April 12 or 19.
Air New Zealand also appears to be ramping up operations with flights between Auckland and Sydney and Auckland and Melbourne available from as early as April 9.
"I've seen a wide-range of speculation in the media today and I know everyone's very keen to hear Cabinet's final decision and as soon as we've made that we'll be sharing it," Ardern told reporters on Tuesday in Parliament.
On Air New Zealand, she said: "These will be decisions they will be making independently. They do not know Cabinet's decisions. They have indicated to us a range of dates they would be ready on. We have not told them the date we will be opening."
