Air NZ's first quarantine-free flight to Brisbane takes off tomorrow

The first quarantine-free flight from New Zealand to Australia left Auckland for Sydney on 16...
The first quarantine-free flight from New Zealand to Australia left Auckland for Sydney on 16 October last year. Photo: Supplied / Air New Zealand / RNZ
Air New Zealand's first quarantine-free flight from Auckland to Brisbane will take off tomorrow.

Passengers on board the 7.40am flight will not need to quarantine on arrival in Brisbane so long as they fill out an Australia Travel Declaration form saying they have been in New Zealand for 14 days.

Air New Zealand already operates similar flights to Sydney and Melbourne.

There are now five flights a week between Auckland and Brisbane. Three will be quarantine-free, with the other two for passengers heading to quarantine.

"Quarantine flights are not able to be booked by people beginning their journey in New Zealand," Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said in a statement.

"Our teams have been working closely with authorities in Australia to ensure all agencies are satisfied processes are in place to confidently accept quarantine-free flights, and we thank customers for their patience while we've worked with various agencies in Australia to ensure we can keep everyone safe," she said.

Any passengers who plan to travel beyond Queensland to another state will need to check state and territory travel restrictions and ensure they have the appropriate exemptions and approvals to travel.

More information on the Safe Travel Zone can be found here.

People returning to New Zealand from Queensland will still need to quarantine for 14 days on their return.