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The Australian state of Queensland (QLD) will re-open its border to all arrivals from New South Wales (NSW) on 1 November, provided NSW goes 28 days without any 'mystery' COVID-19 cases, according to the new roadmap released by the QLD Government. Visitors and returning travellers from NSW can enter QLD with a valid Queensland Border Declaration Pass without having to complete mandatory quarantine, provided community transmission is deemed as being under control.

The airline has become the latest to offer complimentary COVID-19 cover for their passengers' medical and quarantine related expenses. The policy is available to all passengers with tickets issued from 1 October onwards and provides 24/7 COVID-19 assistance, COVID-19 emergency medical assistance up to 120,000 EUROS, quarantine accommodation costs up to 100 EURO per day, and repatriation costs.

The government of Singapore has announced that it will open its borders to Australian citizens from 8 October, however will continue to exclude arrivals from the Australian state of Victoria from entering the country. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) released a statement on Wednesday saying that, from midday on Thursday (14.00 AEST), 1 October, Australian citizens could apply for an Air Travel Pass for entry to the country on or after 8 October. Applicants must have remained in Australia for the previous 14 days before entry and undergo a COVID-19 test upon arrival at Singapore's Changi Airport. Only after obtaining a negative result will they be allowed to freely roam Singapore.

The Japanese airline yesterday, 28 September, released an updated flight schedule announcing that it will resume flights to Singapore and Bangkok in November, in addition to increasing frequency on other international routes; among them, twice-weekly services will fly from Tokyo Haneda to Sydney, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and Manila in the Philippines. One flight per week will also operate from Tokyo Haneda to London.

The country’s prime minister has yesterday, 28 September, said that plans for a ‘travel bubble’ between New Zealand and some Australian states could finally be in place before the end of the year; with the virus largely contained in New Zealand, and as cases continue to decline in Australian regions, talks of the long-discussed arrangement have been revived.

The state government of Australia's Victoria has announced that a night-time curfew imposed on the city of Melbourne will be lifted from the morning of 28 September. The curfew suspension was announced alongside other amendments to restrictions, including an increase on the number of people to be allowed at public gatherings.

The airline said yesterday, 23 September, that it will not further expand its flight offering at this time, instead maintaining a restricted schedule during the winter months, including operating at around 55% of capacity in November.

The cruise line has confirmed that it has extended the suspension of all departures until at least 6 December; canceled sailings include those on the Disney Fantasy through to 6 December, the Disney Dream and Disney Wonder through to 11 December and the Disney Magic through to 12 December.

The airlines of the Lufthansa Group have signalled their intentions to start making rapid COVID-19 antigen tests available to passengers from October, and may consider opening dedicated test centres at airports in the U.S. and Canada. Although rapid antigen tests are thought to be less accurate than PCR testing, they are able to yield results within around 15 minutes.

The premier of the Australian state of Queensland has announced that Queensland's border bubble will be extended to include communities along the interstate border with New South Wales (NSW), and along the NSW eastern coast. The border bubble changes will come into effect at 01.00 (local time) on 1 October and allow approximately 152,000 people to arrive in Queensland without a border exemption. Residents of the extension areas will be able to apply for a border pass to allow them to freely travel around Queensland.

South Australia will open its border to New South Wales travellers from midnight 23 September, after the eastern state reached 14 days without reporting any COVID-19 cases with an unknown source.

The country’s government has today, 21 September, lifted all COVID-19 restrictions across New Zealand, with the exception of the city of Auckland. Some restrictions were also though gently lifted in Auckland, including the allowance of gatherings of up to 100 people.

The government of the state of Queensland has announced that it will lift border restrictions for arrivals from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) from 01.00 (local time) on 25 September.

From midnight (local time) on 15 September, residents of the state of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) are now able to visit South Australia without having to undertake a 14-day quarantine period. Residents of the ACT must complete an online pre-approval before entering the state, and must declare they have not been in the states of New South Wales (NSW) or Victoria in the 14 days before their arrival into South Australia (SA). They will only be able to fly into South Australia and will not be permitted to drive across the borders from NSW.

Qantas has announced that it will help maintain critical transport links to key regional cities in Australia, following Virgin Australia's decision to exit a number of markets. Subject to state borders re-opening, Qantas will launch a new flight from Brisbane to Port Macquarie, which will operate up to five times per week with the airline's Q400 turboprop aircraft, adding more than 700 seats to the route each week.

Virgin Australia has announced they are making some adjustments to their domestic Australian network, withdrawing domestic services from Ayers Rock (Uluru), Albury, Tamworth, Hervey Bay, Port Macquarie, Mildura and Cloncurry for the foreseeable future.

The Abu Dhabi-based airline is now offering COVID-19 insurance cover as part of their Global Wellness program; the cover is included with every Etihad ticket travelling between 7 September and 31 December, for the first 31 days of a passenger’s trip.

The airline, along with partner carrier SilkAir, has published its latest schedule update for flights in September, October and November 2020. Among the updates are reinstated flights to three destinations including Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Taipei, Taiwan. The airlines have said that following these resumptions, by the end of November flight capacity will have reached 11% of pre-COVID-19 levels.

A strict COVID-19 lockdown in the Australian city of Melbourne has been extended by at least two weeks until 28 September, following an announcement by the state premier; the current stage four restrictions were previously due to ease from 13 September. A gradual easing of the measures will be implemented from October. In the meantime, city residents will be subject to a slightly eased curfew, from 21.00 to 05.00 (local time) daily.

The state government of Australia's Victoria has unveiled its roadmap to easing COVID-19 restrictions; the plan will see stage four restrictions easing from 23.59 (local time) on 13 September.