NEW DELHI: Australia will from next month open for certain categories of fully vaccinated international travellers like students, working holidaymakers and provisional family visa holders. Australian carrier Qantas will connect Delhi with Sydney and Melbourne from December. Australia has approved both the made-in-India Covaxin and Covishield.
Australian High Commissioner to India Barry O’Farrell Tweeted Monday: “(Australian) PM Scott Morrison announced from December 1, 2021, skilled migrants, international students, working holidaymakers, provisional family visa holders and humanitarian visa holders who are fully vaccinated can enter Australia without exemption. Travellers to Australia must comply with quarantine requirements in the state or territory of their arrival, and any other state or territory to which they plan to travel.”
PM @ScottMorrisonMP announced today, from 1 Dec:1. skilled migrants 2. international students 3. working holi… https://t.co/0kV1dckaMT
— Barry O’Farrell AO (@AusHCIndia) 1637548007000
In a statement, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “Australia continues to take further steps to safely reopen to the world, with additional changes to our international border arrangements coming into effect on 1 December… these changes will ensure we continue to protect the health of Australians while reuniting families and securing our economic recovery by opening our border to skilled and student visa holders.”
“From 1 December 2021, fully vaccinated eligible visa holders can come to Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption. Eligible visa holders include skilled and student cohorts, as well as humanitarian, working holidaymaker and provisional family visa holders,” Morrison said.
Under the arrangements, travellers must: Be fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine; hold a valid visa for one of the eligible subclasses; provide proof of their vaccination status and present a negative Covid-19 PCR test taken within three days of departure.
Travellers to Australia must comply with the quarantine requirements in the state or territory of their arrival, and any other state or territory to which they plan to travel.
“The return of skilled workers and international students to Australia will further cement our economic recovery, providing the valuable workers our economy needs and supporting our important education sector,” the Australian PM’s statement said.
Qantas has announced it will launch a brand-new international route from Melbourne to Delhi from December 22, 2021, connecting Victoria to the Indian capital on a Qantas-operated flight for the first time in the airline’s history. “The new Melbourne-Delhi flight will operate four times a week, year-round. Same-day connections will also be available from Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra. Flights from Melbourne to Delhi will initially operate via Adelaide, while flights from Delhi to Melbourne will operate nonstop. This follows the recent announcement of flights from Sydney to Delhi, which start next month. When this route went on sale, Qantas saw the fastest booking surge for flights leaving Australia since the airline announced its international restart plans in August,” Qantas said in a statement.
