With hugs, tears and Maori performers, NZ welcomes Australian visitors as curbs ease

By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand welcomed a whole bunch of travellers from Australia with emotional scenes on Wednesday because it opened its borders to its trans-Tasmanian neighbour for the primary time since mid-2021.

Maori cultural performers greeted travellers whereas households and mates hugged and cried on the Auckland Worldwide Airport the place two flights from Australia landed this morning. These ready within the arrivals lounge held up boards saying “Howdy & Kia Ora & G’day & Welcome”.

“Simply so, so excited to be again, and all I actually wish to do is spend time with the household actually,” Jane Cheeseman instructed the New Zealand Herald, as she and her two kids have been reunited together with her sister forward of Easter vacation.

New Zealand had among the hardest curbs on the earth in the course of the pandemic and its borders have been closed for more often than not since March 2020, apart from a short-lived journey bubble with Australia final 12 months that was suspended after just a few months as COVID-19 unfold.

However the authorities has began to ease these more and more unpopular measures, hoping to spice up tourism and ease labour shortages now that Omicron is widespread domestically.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern instructed Australia’s Channel 7 she was “terribly excited” concerning the reopening.

“I can not truly think about or bear in mind a time once we would have been simply so excited to be welcoming our Australian household again to our shores. It’s totally real,” she added.

Air New Zealand stated it was operating 11 near-full flights from Australia on Wednesday.

“This is step one in welcoming worldwide guests again to our shores and we could not be extra excited for each New Zealand and Air New Zealand,” the airline’s chief buyer and gross sales officer, Leanne Geraghty, stated in an announcement.

RULES FOR TRAVELLERS

Foreigners have been beforehand banned from getting into New Zealand, and till February residents seeking to return needed to both make emergency requests to the federal government or safe a spot in state quarantine amenities.

Most travellers coming into the nation need to undertake pre-departure and arrival testing, whereas most foreigners are additionally required to be absolutely vaccinated.

Vacationers from visa-waiver nations together with the USA, Britain and Singapore will be capable of go to from Might 1. The border will stay closed for all different guests till October.

Chris Hipkins, COVID-19 Response Minister, stated curbs within the nation can be additional eased because the variety of new instances fall.

From Thursday, there can be no restrictions on the variety of folks attending indoor occasions and there can be some easing on the place masks need to be worn.

New Zealand, which has a inhabitants of simply over 5 million, reported 9,542 new instances up to now 24 hours, properly under a peak of greater than 20,000 new instances a day. It has recorded simply 497 deaths from COVID for the reason that begin of the outbreak.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Modifying by Himani Sarkar)