The Australian government has just presented its budget for the 2020/2021 financial year. It is assumed that international visitors will not be allowed into the country until the end of 2021.
As soon as its budget for the 2020/2021 financial year was officially presented, the The Australian government has made it clear that it does not envisage the country reopening to international traffic before the end of 2021.. The information was given by Josh Frydenberg, Federal Treasurer, during a meeting with the media at the National Press Club of Australia on Wednesday 7 October.
In his presentation to the press, the treasurer assumed that "international travel, including that of tourists [...] should remain largely inaccessible until the end of next year, then gradually resume over time. Our budget assumptions are based on a vaccine being available towards the end of 2021".
However, Josh Frydenberg has announced that travel will resume. between Australian federal states before the end of the year. Domestic borders have been closed since the epidemic resumed at the end of August. The only exception is Western Australia (Perth region), which will have to wait until April 2021 to welcome domestic travellers.
Little hope of a return of European travellers
Australia will not be completely locked in, however. The government wants to create travel corridors. Such a corridor has already been confirmed with New Zealand, which has few cases of covid-19. It is possible that Japan and Singapore will benefit from similar measures in the first quarter of 2021.
On the other hand, for the time being, Europe seems to be totally excluded from such measures in the face of the resurgence of the pandemic. In 2019, Australia welcomed 1.65 million Europeans, including 143,700 visitors from France. The total closure of the country resulted in a 52% drop in visitors from January to July. However, this figure still takes into account the "normal" months of January and February. July, on the other hand, shows the extent of the damage. The country recorded 980 arrivals from Europe, including 50 from France. A fall in arrivals of more than 99%.
In such a context, several airlines have decided to suspend their flights. Etihad has just announced that it is stopping services to Brisbane. The Abu Dhabi airline follows Malaysia Airlineswhich ceased services to Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth in September. Qantas also announced in July that it would not resume flights before March 2021.
The Australian federal government has set a weekly target of 6,000 returns. of Australian citizens stranded abroad. This gauge has been in place since July to avoid overcrowding the few hotels requisitioned for quarantines. The impossibility of making international flights profitable is tantamount to mission impossible.
Especially as the country's second largest airport, Melbourne remains closed to international visitors. The State of Victoria is at the heart of the contagion. As of 9 October, 75% of all cases of covid in the country had been recorded there.
