Qantas Airways has cancelled most international flights until late October, as Australian borders look set to remain closed into next year.
The news comes as the Australian government indicated that visitors will not be allowed into the country until 2021, in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
However, the country will look to relax entry rules for students and other long-term visitors, Australia’s tourism minister Simon Birmingham said.
Australia is in talks with New Zealand about forming a quarantine-free “travel bubble”, given the low number of cases in both countries.
New Zealand has said regular flights between the two nations could possibly resume in September.
Qantas has said in a statement: “With Australia’s borders set to remain closed for some time, we have cancelled most international flights until late October.
“We will still have some flights scheduled across the Tasman Sea in the coming months with the expected travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand.”
At the same time, the national carrier said that it is ready to ramp its international schedule as soon as government regulations allow.
Qantas said: “Should travel between Australia and other countries open up and demand return, we can add more flights back into our schedule.”
Earlier this month, the airline announced plans to triple domestic capacity to 15% of normal levels by the end of the month as internal state border restrictions ease.
It has seen domestic passenger numbers double to 64,000 this week, compared with last week’s 32,000.
