Friday 16 October 2020 -  Jetstar’s first international flight since early April took off with services between Auckland and Sydney resuming.

The three per week return service follows the Australian government’s announcement of a Safe Travel Zone between New Zealand and New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

Qantas will also operate two services a week between the two cities.

Quotes from Jetstar Group CEO, Gareth Evans:

“Today marks an important step in restarting international travel.

“While it’s largely one-way travel at this stage, it’s a significant milestone which will reconnect Australia and New Zealand after our trans-Tasman flights were suspended six months ago.

“We hope the borders will open in both directions soon so that a true travel bubble between the two countries can form.

“We expect today to see families reunite after being separated for months, friends catching up to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and people getting back to their jobs.

“We are proud and excited to play a role reconnecting our customers with their family and friends and helping Australia and New Zealand recover.

“It’s also great to have more of our team back in the air, where they love to be.”

Fly Well measures

Jetstar has been operating with our Fly Well program since May.

Fly Well offers a series of wellbeing improvements together with existing measures designed to improve safety and help give customers peace of mind when they fly.

These include Fly Well packs (masks and sanitizing wipes), enhanced cleaning, contactless check-in, and all our aircraft are fitted with HEPA filters which remove 99.9% of viruses (masks are mandatory for customers and crew on our trans-Tasman services).

In addition, both the Australian and New Zealand governments have put in place a number of requirements for departing and arriving passengers, including health declaration forms and other checks.