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The government of the Australian state of Queensland has announced that, in response to a COVID-19 outbreak within Victoria, it will from 27 May reinstate some travel restrictions for its residents who are set to travel to and from the southern region. From 27 May, only Queensland residents who have been in the region since 11 May will be allowed to return to the state, but they will have to go straight into hotel quarantine. Non-residents will be turned away, unless they have an approved exemption, but even then they will also be required to complete the mandated government-approved quarantine. Visitors and Queenslanders travelling from the City of Whittlesea from 27 May will also be sent into hotel quarantine, unless they have a valid exemption.

The quarantine-free travel between NZ and Victoria had been scheduled until 19.59 (local NZ time) on 28 May; however, due to the increase in community cases of COVID-19 in Victoria, the NZ Government has announced an extension of an additional seven days until at least 19.59 (local NZ time) on 4 June.

The government of the Australian state of Victoria have just announced a seven-day COVID-19 'lockdown' to be imposed with immediate effect from midnight today until 23.59 (local time) on 3 June; the restrictions are being introduced in a bid to curb the state's growing COVID-19 outbreak. During this time, residents will only be allowed to leave their homes for a limited number of reasons. Meanwhile, the state of Western Australia is set to close its border to Victoria at 10.00 (local time) this morning, with travel being restricted. For the latest state border conditions for Australia and New Zealand, click the link in this alert.

The government of New Zealand has announced that quarantine-free travel from the Australian state of Victoria to the country has been paused, while the source of infection of five COVID-19 cases detected in the city of Melbourne is investigated; the pause commenced at 19.59 (local time) on 25 May and initially will be in place for 72 hours. The measures is a one-way pause only, meaning that while no flights will depart from Victoria to New Zealand, services from New Zealand to Victoria can continue.

The airline has said that it will delay its planned resumption of international flights further to the end of 2021, in response to a newly revised COVID-19 vaccine rollout timeline from the Australian government. Qantas now expects to resume international service in late December, after previously targeting late October. The Australian government now plans the larger re-opening of the country's borders in mid-2022.

The government of New Zealand has announced the lifting of a temporary pause on quarantine-free travel from Australia's New South Wales (NSW) to New Zealand as of 23.59 (local NZ time) on 9 May. The resumption is subject to the condition that there are no new cases of COVID-19 detected in NSW and no further restrictions imposed by the NSW government.

The government of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has said that from 17.00 (local time) on 6 May, the Greater Sydney region will be subject to increased COVID-19 restrictions. This includes compulsory masks while on public transport and in indoor public venues; household visitors will be limited to 20 and a maximum of two visitors will be allowed at aged care facilities. Additionally, from 01.00 (local time) on 7 May, anyone arriving in the state of Queensland from NSW will be required to enter hotel quarantine if they have been to any of the listed venues linked to the NSW COVID-19 cluster.

The government of New Zealand has said that quarantine-free travel from Australia's New South Wales (NSW) to New Zealand will now be paused while the source of infection of two Sydney cases of COVID-19 is investigated. The pause commenced from 23.59 (local time) on 6 May and will be under constant review during an initial period of 48 hours. This is a one-way pause to quarantine-free travel, meaning while no flights will depart from NSW to New Zealand, flights from New Zealand to NSW will continue.

The government of New Zealand has confirmed that quarantine-free travel between the country and the region of Western Australia will begin again at 12 midday (local time) on 28 April, for passengers who are not close contacts of known COVID-19 cases. The same arrangement had previously been paused after the announcement of a three-day lockdown in Perth, Western Australia which ended at 00.01 (local time) on 27 April.

The prime minister of Australia has today, 27 April, announced in a televised news conference that the country has suspended direct flights from India in response to a surge of COVID-19 cases in India. The suspension is currently due to be in force until at least 15 May, and primarily impacts two passenger services from India into Sydney, plus two repatriation flights from India to Darwin, totalling around 500 arrivals.

The government of the state of Western Australia (WA) has announced that Perth and the neighbouring region of Peel are to enter a three-day COVID-19 'lockdown' from 23.59 (local time) on Friday 23 April; the measures are in response to an outbreak of COVID-19 in WA's hotel quarantine system. Restrictions during the three day period will include the requirement to leave home only for essential reasons, and the wearing of face masks in public during all but rigorous exercise.

The airline has announced that it has removed all mileage expirations in its loyalty program; 'HawaiianMiles' members previously had to post account activity at least every 18 months in order to preserve their miles - although such requirements were already suspended for most of last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country's government has announced that it will suspend international arrivals from India in response to a high number of arrivals testing positive for COVID-19. The suspension of entry applies to all who have been in India in the previous 14 days, including New Zealand citizens and residents, and will be in place until at least 28 April.

New Zealand's prime minister has confirmed that two-way travel between the country and Australia will be permitted to commence from 23.59 on 18 April, meaning that passengers will be able to travel without needing to quarantine. At this stage, COVID-19 vaccinations are not mandatory for travel, however passengers are encouraged to check both Australian and New Zealand government websites for full details of eligibility.

The Victorian government has declared greater Brisbane as a designated red zone under Victoria’s travel permit system at 6pm Victorian time today. Western Australia (WA) will reintroduce a hard border for travel from Queensland from midnight tonight. Travel from QLD will no longer be permitted, unless you are an exempt traveller. Anyone travelling from greater Brisbane to the Northern Territory (NT) from March 25 onward must enter self-isolation and get tested for coronavirus in the next 72 hours. A hard border hasn't been declared by NT at this stage.

A number of state governments in Australia have announced updated border restrictions in response to the unfolding situation with COVID-19 cases in greater Brisbane. South Australia (SA) has announced it will impose a hard border with greater Brisbane from 4pm today. The ACT has declared greater Brisbane a coronavirus hotspot. From 6pm Monday, if you’ve returned from greater Brisbane between March 11 and March 14, you should get tested and isolate until you receive a negative result. If you returned from greater Brisbane from March 15, you need to self-isolate until at least 6pm on April 1. Tasmania (TAS) has classified greater Brisbane as high-risk, effective immediately and anyone travelling from the five local government areas will not be permitted to enter without quarantining for up to two weeks.

Greater Brisbane will go into a 3-day lockdown from 5pm Monday 29 March 2021. The lockdown is in response to 10 new cases overnight, with four of those cases confirmed as community transmission. Schools will be closed from Tuesday and masks are required indoors.

International flights into Melbourne will resume on 8 April 2021. The announcement comes six weeks after flights were halted following a COVID-19 outbreak in February. The state is still bound by the federal government’s restrictions on who can enter Australia from overseas, with only Australian citizens, permanent residents of Australia and immediate family members of Australian citizens allowed to enter the country. All arrivals will be required to undergo a compulsory 14-day hotel quarantine.

Effective Monday 22 March, one-way quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Queensland will resume from Auckland-Brisbane, with the first quarantine-free flight departing today.

The country's prime minister has announced that all charter and passenger flights will be suspended between Papua New Guinea and Australia, as medical professionals warn COVID-19 cases are increasing in the country; the suspension starts from 23.59 (local time) on 17 March.