Australia-New Zealand travel bubble to begin on April 19

New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern says she expects to hold a face-to-face meeting with her Australian counterpart soon after travel bubble begins.

New Zealand will allow quarantine-free visits by Australians from April 19, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday, creating a two-way “travel bubble” for the neighbouring nations which have closed borders to the rest of the world to eradicate COVID-19. The two countries’ airlines said they plan to ramp up flights once the arrangement comes into effect. Though most Australian states have allowed quarantine-free visits from New Zealanders for months, New Zealand has continued mandatory quarantine from its neighbour, citing concern about small COVID-19 outbreaks there.