SYDNEY, 4 March 2022: Thousands of travellers boarded Qantas and Jetstar flights following the reopening of Western Australia’s domestic border, on 2 March, allowing visitors quarantine free entry for the first time in almost two years.
After a false start in February, more than 23,000 passengers booked to travel this week on Qantas and Jetstar flights to and from Perth.
Several of the 31 Qantas and Jetstar flights on day one (2 March) were fully booked with Australians rushing to reunite with friends and family or get back to business in Western Australia. WA was the last Australian state to reopen to visitors.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce welcomed the border reopening saying, “Australia is now finally back together…It’s a terrific boost to West Australian tourism operators and businesses who will once again benefit from the influx of visitors from the east coast and beyond.
“We had to cancel thousands of flights when the border reopening was cancelled in February, and tens of thousands of travellers had their plans ruined, but while the reopening has been complicated, it’s great that Aussies can now travel freely again.”
Qantas and Jetstar have added around 60 return interstate flights each week in March – representing around 40% of the group’s pre-Covid capacity. This ramps up in April, particularly around the school holiday period as travel demand recovers.
Flights have been added from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Cairns, Gold Coast, Canberra, Hobart and Darwin.
