(Sydney) Australia reopened its borders on Monday nearly 600 days after they closed, giving rise to moving reunion scenes at Sydney airport.
On March 20, 2020, the huge island continent implemented one of the strictest border closures in the world to protect itself from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tens of thousands of Australians living abroad were unable to reach their homeland for 19 months. Thefts were rare and nationals allowed to return had to undergo an expensive 14-day quarantine at the hotel.
The country’s two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne have decided to drop these measures and fully vaccinated Australians can now travel without quarantine.
The Australian company Qantas had grounded a large part of its fleet and its CEO Alan Joyce was delighted with this resumption of international flights which “took a long time to arrive”.
“It’s wonderful to see that Australians can be reunited with their loved ones after such a long period of separation,” he said.
“It’s a big day for Australia,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, posting a message on Facebook saying the country was now “ready to take off!” “.
At Sydney Airport at dawn on Monday, the first passengers to disembark burst into joy, resulting in poignant scenes of hugs.
Abhi Bajaj, 35, said he was “overwhelmed” to be able to travel to the United States to celebrate Christmas with his family after two years of separation.
“I have been waiting for this day for a long time,” he told AFP, before leaving for Los Angeles.
The frequency of flights is expected to resume gradually even if the number of passengers on the first flights were few.
More than a million foreign residents remain stranded in Australia, unable to return to see their friends or families, with the easing measures mainly applying to Australian citizens.
Some Australian states where the vaccination rate remains low will remain virtually closed. A mandatory 14-day quarantine will remain in effect.