Airline group Qantas has revealed hopes to restart flights between the UK and Australia from December 2021.
The company has unveiled its strategy for restarting international flights, which depend on a number of factors but the biggest one will be Australia's vaccine roll out.
Currently, there are hopes that Australia will reach a vaccination threshold of 80% in December, which would allow for the gradual reopening of international borders.
The group said in a statement that: "Similarly, key markets like the UK, North America and parts of Asia have high and increasing levels of vaccination. This makes them highly likely to be classed as low risk countries for vaccinated travellers to visit and return from under reduced quarantine requirements, pending decisions by the Australian Government and entry policies of other countries."
If this is the case in mid December, the airline has said it would look to resume flights to the UK, as well as the USA, Japan, Canada and Singapore.
Do you think the UK should have kept its borders closed like Australia has? Let us know in the comments below.
Australia has kept its borders firmly closed throughout the pandemic, with only a handful of exemptions such as Australian citizens returning home or travellers who have a "compassionate or compelling reason" allowed to enter the country. It has also opened a travel bubble with New Zealand.
However, if it were to open to Brits then trips could be on the cards, as the country is currently on the UK's green list. This means that anyone returning to the UK won't need to self-isolate or quarantine, although they will need to take a pre-departure test, as well as a PCR test on the second day of their return.
Before you start planning your itinerary, it's worth noting that earlier this year Australian authorities did reveal that Australia could keep its borders closed to tourists until mid-2022.
Back in May the Australian Treasury revealed the country's Budget 2021 plan, in which it confirmed that "inbound and outbound international travel is expected to remain low through to mid-2022, after which a gradual recovery in international tourism is assumed to occur".
However, some travel may be allowed a little earlier. According to the Budget there are plans to allow a small number of international students to return in late 2021, as well as passengers from 'Safe Travel Zones'.
It could be that if December 2021 does allow for a restart of international travel, this may still come with a series of restrictions in place.
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