More than 3000 Aussies are tipped to arrive in Auckland as the border creaks open to Australia quarantine-free for the first time since the trans-Tasman bubble.
The Government announced last month that, after two years of being locked away amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the international border would finally reopen to Australians from April 12 and visa waiver tourists from May 1.
"Next week we have Australian tourists returning which will be a fantastic milestone," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters on Friday.
Prior to COVID-19, tourism contributed 5.5 percent to New Zealand's GDP, bringing in about $41 billion altogether, and international tourists made up $17 billion of that. It was also responsible for 8 percent of our national workforce.
The removal of all quarantine requirements and reopening of borders to visitors has given airlines the confidence to reopen routes, Auckland Airport's Scott Tasker, general manager aeronautical commercial, said on Tuesday.
"Tomorrow, we'll have more than 3000 travellers arriving from Australia, but our really busy days will be the first and last days of the school holidays - Friday 15 April and Sunday 1 May," Tasker said.
"On those days we're expecting more than 10,000 passengers to arrive and depart internationally - roughly 30 percent of pre-COVID demand but the busiest the terminal has been since March 2020.
"We're already seeing international traveller numbers tracking above last year's trans-Tasman quarantine-free period."
Airlines announcing restarts to international services, routes or increases in frequency at Auckland Airport have included Air New Zealand, Jetstar, Qantas, Air Tahiti Nui, Korean Air, Aircalin, Air Canada, Air Chathams, Malaysia Airlines and LATAM.
"The last couple of years has seen us enjoy travelling around New Zealand but for most it will have been a while since overseas travel has been a real option, so we're really experiencing the first wave of that pent up demand," Tasker said.
Wellington Airport is ready too. A special welcome is planned for Australian arrivals with giveaways and special guests greeting them.
The first direct flights to Fiji also resume on Wednesday at 12:45pm, giving Wellingtonians a direct link to tropical holidays just in time for Easter and school holidays.
Airlines will be operating around 4000 international seats per week at Wellington during the month of April, but this is expected to increase to up to 15,000 seats per week in July - around two-thirds of 2019 levels.
"These new services are an encouraging sign of life as we used to know it returning to normal," said Wellington Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson.
Christchurch Airport's communications manager Yvonne Densem says both Air New Zealand and Qantas have added additional services into Christchurch this week, and almost all 16 flights are full, with more to come.
Air New Zealand is geared up to accommodate extra travel demand.
"What we're seeing across the Tasman at the moment is pent up demand to reconnect with friends and family both in New Zealand and Australia. To help with this, we've added an extra 96 flights between the nations last week for April through to June, an increase of approximately 20,000 seats," a spokesperson told Newshub.
"We've also been ramping up demand for the winter period so Aussies can enjoy our fantastic ski slopes here in New Zealand. Rest assured, we're working hard to get our customers across the Tasman and have put on as much capacity as we can."
The tourism industry is fizzing.
"This is an exciting day for tourism businesses around the motu as they step back onto the front foot, setting their sights on a successful ski season, then summer 2022-23," said Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Rebecca Ingram.
"The industry is reporting forward bookings are gaining momentum, and there's definitely a more positive feeling about the future and the opportunities to rebuild businesses."
Sarah Derry, chief executive of hotel provider Accor Pacific, says the company has seen a steady increase in bookings since the March 16 announcement that Australians could visit New Zealand again.
"The increase is driven by Queenstown and Auckland destinations. Bookings in April reflect a desire for Australians to reconnect with family and friends as soon as possible, and we are seeing booking trends which suggest Australians want to make the most of the upcoming winter ski season in Queenstown."
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said on Tuesday the Ministry of Health is keeping an eye on the new XE variant of COVID-19 as the border opens.
"At the moment we're making sure that we've got surveillance in place and are doing whole genome sequencing on our border-related cases," Dr Bloomfield said.
"ESR has so far not seen any of the XE variant here. Australia has found a small number of the samples it's sequenced as the XE variant. We're looking just to see what impact it's having on other countries at this point in time."
Timeline of New Zealand's COVID-19 border
- March 2020: New Zealand and Australia both closed their borders to foreigners as the novel coronavirus COVID-19 swept the globe.
- April 19, 2021: After a year closed off to the world, Australia and New Zealand opened the short-lived Trans-Tasman quarantine-free travel bubble.
- July 23, 2021: The Trans-Tasman bubble was suspended by New Zealand as Australia struggled to contain COVID-19 outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne. It was a traveller from Sydney who brought the Delta variant to New Zealand in August, sparking Auckland's months-long lockdown.
- August 12, 2021: The Government announced its Reconnecting New Zealanders to the World plan, with a self-isolation trial signalled as the beginning of returning to normality.
- November 24, 2021: The Government announced that home isolation would be allowed for vaccinated Kiwis coming from Australia from January 17, vaccinated Kiwis arriving from other countries from February 14, and vaccinated people from all countries from April 30.
- December 21, 2021: The Government postponed its reopening plan due to the threat of the new Omicron variant.
- February 3, 2022: The Government announced new border reopening dates, with most international tourists able to enter by July.
- February 28, 2022: The Government dropped its self-isolation requirement for fully-vaccinated travellers.
- March 3, 2022: The Government confirmed the dates for when tourists could return after just giving a "July" date. Vaccinated Australians could arrive from April 12 and vaccinated visa waiver tourists from May 1. A pre-departure test is required and two tests during the trip.
- March 3, 2022: Australia fully opened its border to vaccinated travellers, after Western Australia became the last state to end border restrictions.
- March 20, 2022: The Government dropped its isolation requirements for unvaccinated Kiwi travellers. Vaccination requirements still apply to non-New Zealand citizens, including permanent residents, unless they have an exemption.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in March that unvaccinated travellers will eventually be welcomed to New Zealand but "we haven't made those decisions".
