Posts

Dave

Australia “back on the map” as international travel returns

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Qantas flights from eight overseas destinations are touching down in Australia today, bringing the first international tourists in almost two years and an eagerly anticipated boost for the country’s tourism industry.

The Qantas Group will fly more than 14,000 passengers into Australia this week as quarantine and border barriers for international tourists come down.

QF12 from Los Angeles was the first to land at 6.20am and flights from other international destinations including Vancouver, Singapore and London arrive into Sydney throughout the day.

Jetstar’s first unrestricted international flight JQ18 will touch down in Melbourne from Phuket at 10.05am and QF70 from Delhi to Melbourne will arrive at 1.35pm.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said bookings had been strong since the Australian Government announced the country was opening to international visitors, and today’s arrivals will be the first of many.

It’s fair to say we’ve all been waiting a long time to welcome visitors back to Australia. The thousands of international tourists arriving this week and many more over the coming months will help kickstart the tourism industry which has done it tough for the past couple of years.

We’re in this position today thanks to the millions of Australians who rolled up their sleeves to get the jab and give the Australian Government and state and territory governments’ confidence that we can safely reopen to the world.

We can clearly see from the Australian Government’s announcement that people are very keen to come back to Australia, and we continue to see strong bookings out of the US and UK, as well as South Africa and Canada.

Qantas restarted its international network for Australian citizens and visa holders on 1 November 2021, with a number of routes coming online since then.

Dave

New Coronavirus travel restrictions announced

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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has published updated travel restriction information for passengers travelling to a number of international destination countries.

The restrictions vary by destination country and, in some cases, by nationality. They include details of mandatory self-isolation, immediate quarantine, completion of Health Clearance Forms on-board flights, visas and e-visas being invalidated and the ending of some visa exemptions.

The countries for which travel restrictions have been updated are Antiga and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Chinese Tapei, Cook Islands, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, El Salvador, Fiji, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Macao, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmr, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Paraguay, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Samoa, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

For the updated travel restriction information on each of these countries, please visit the IATA website, here https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/international-travel-document-news/1580226297.htm

Natalie

British Airways reunites family for a very special occasion

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As its centenary year drew to a close, British Airways waved its magic wand for the 100th time to take a very deserving customer on the trip of a lifetime to Australia to surprise her uncle on his wedding day.

Cheryl Lawley, 36 from Nuneaton, contacted the airline in early 2019 to share her story. In 2016 Cheryl was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer and after undergoing a 14-hour operation, Cheryl woke to find her uncle, Ben, unexpectedly by her bedside. Ben had travelled from his home in Melbourne, Australia, to nurse Cheryl and help care for her three children, aged 16, 10 and 9.

After returning to Melbourne, Ben announced that he was engaged to marry his partner of 14 years, Andrew, but given Cheryl’s circumstances she would be unable to attend. Until BA Magic stepped in!

British Airways organised for Cheryl, her partner Adrian, 31, and children Mia, Ashdon and Carson to fly to Melbourne, with lots of surprises and adventure along the way.

Departing from Heathrow Terminal 5, Cheryl was given the VIP treatment with a Heathrow Personal Shopping experience and Elemis spa treatments in preparation for the wedding, before the family embarked on their 22-hour journey to Australia in the comfort of British Airways’ business cabin, Club World.

When they arrived, the family were gifted with a suite at The Langham Melbourne, which has been named as the number one hotel in Australia. 

On the day of the wedding, Melbourne’s leading hair and make-up artist, Jemma, was on hand to pamper Cheryl before she went to surprise her uncle as he got ready for his wedding.

Cheryl said:

When I wrote to BA Magic to ask for help in getting me to Australia so I could be there for my uncle on his important day as he was for mine, I didn’t expect such an unforgettable adventure. British Airways has helped create memories for us as a family that we will always cherish and be grateful for.

Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ Director of Brand and Customer Experience, said:

Cheryl’s story touched our hearts, so we wanted to do everything possible to help surprise her uncle on his big day. Throughout 2019, to say thank you to our customers, we committed to 100 acts of kindness and this marks our 100th act. We are delighted we could end the year making this special trip unforgettable for such a deserving family.

Helping to surprise Cheryl’s uncle on his big day was part of the airline’s commitment to mark its centenary year with 100 acts of kindness as part of its #BAMagic100 campaign. Following its launch in 2017, the campaign saw the airline arranging surprise proposals, reuniting loved ones, arranging money-can’t-buy experiences and creating holidays of a lifetime.

If you want to book a flight on British Airways, please contact your GTM Account Manager; and if you would like to take advantage of Heathrow’s Personal Shopper Service, please click here:
https://boutique.heathrow.com/en/contact/personal-shopper.

Paul

Yellow Fever Certificate – Important Update.

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We have recently received an update from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office regarding yellow fever certificates.

Namely, if you intend to visit Australia, but have recently been to a country which carries a risk of yellow fever transmission, then you must now be in possession of a yellow fever certificate.

A certificate of yellow fever vaccination is required for travellers aged one year or older entering Australia within six days of having stayed overnight, or longer, in a country with risk of yellow fever transmission. The World Health Organization list of countries with a risk of yellow fever is available via the following link :
http://www.nathnac.org/ds/c_pages/documents/WHOYFrisk2011.pdf

Please note that the same requirement/scenario also applies to people wishing to visit South Africa.