Flights resume and agents brace for flood of bookings after plan to re-open WA border from November 14

After lying dormant for months the telephones and email inboxes of WA travel agencies began springing back to life this afternoon after long-awaited plans to reunite the State with rest of the country were finally announced. From November 14, tens of thousands of West Australians have been given the green light to reunite with friends and family or book an east coast holiday. Many did not waste time reaching out to their travel agents for details of the border changes but the real flood of bookings is expected from Monday once families have had time to digest the more relaxed rules. In anticipation of the pent-up demand, Qantas has increased its weekly flights into Perth from Brisbane to 14 while also boosting services from Adelaide and Darwin. The national carrier will also launch a new route between Perth and Hobart flying three days per week, and resume flights between Canberra and Perth. One way fares from November 14 start at $329 from Adelaide and Darwin, $391 from Brisbane, $442 from Canberra and $543 from Hobart. However, a Qantas spokeswoman said was “disappointing and frustrating” that visitors from NSW will still be required to complete 14 days of self-isolation when arriving in WA — a ‘significant deterrent’ to travel. “(Sydney) is probably doing the best of any city its size in keeping control of a virus that Australia will be living with for a long time. “What we really need is single set of standards for opening and closing our internal borders to give everyone more certainty.” Virgin Australia group spokesman Kris Taute said the carrier would monitor booking trends and “make any adjustments to our schedule in line with customer demand.” Au Revoir Travel marketing manager Marina Kendal predicted a “surge in domestic bookings” that would bring to an end months of “horrendous” conditions with the vast majority of every working day dedicated to chasing refunds from airlines. “We have people on a waitlist that will want to go to Queensland and Tassie,” she said. “Some like to self-drive around Tasmania and others just want to sit on the beach on the Gold Coast. There are also all the Northern Territory cruises out of Broome to Darwin that are very popular and start in May.” Barry Downs, sales and marketing manager for Bicton Travel, said clients were “itching” to travel outside of WA. “I would expect that from Monday there will be a lot of people on the phone and dropping emails asking for prices and itinerary for touring around Tasmania or going up to the centre of Australia. “For those people that would traditionally have gone to Bali or Thailand there is also the opportunity for us to book those luxury retreats and islands in Queensland.” But it will not all be one way traffic, with the owner of South Australia’s biggest travel agency – Phil Hoffman Travel – predicting a wave of eastern states travellers turning up in WA in time for Christmas. “Western Australia is a big important destination for South Australia, not only for people visiting family but also because of the holiday market and the big FIFO work force that lives here,” Mr Hoffman said. “The Kimberley specifically is a very unique, iconic Australian destination and we have travellers booked over there next year June with deposits due by January who we were worried might cancel because of the border uncertainty. “The South West and Margaret River are also very popular over Christmas.” Perth Airport lost six million passengers between April and October compared to the same period last year which chief executive Kevin Brown said had taken a “swift and brutal” toll on the finances of the organisation. “While Perth Airport and airports across Australia are still facing enormous financial challenges, today’s announcement is great news for aviation, tourism and hospitality and the thousands of jobs these industries support,” he said. “We were the first Australian airport to receive an international COVID-safe rating from the Airports Council International. “So, we are ready go to when the controlled borders come into play on November 14.”

Flights resume and agents brace for flood of bookings after plan to re-open WA border from November 14

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