On November 9, with direct flights to Melbourne Airport, Victoria will formally become part of the Trans-Tasman travel bubble with New Zealand.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced today that he had written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, stating that from Monday, the state will be delighted to have flights from New Zealand to Melbourne.
It did not necessarily mean that flights would start landing in the city on the date, Mr. Andrews said, just that the state government was happy for them to arrive at that time.
They will not be required to quarantine New Zealanders on arrival.
“New Zealanders will be able to travel directly into Melbourne and throughout Victoria,” he said.
“I have written to the Prime Minister and asked him to make that happen.
“Melbourne Airport will be very keen to have those flights land. It might not happen on the 9th, but that’s when we are happy to have it.”
The decision comes as last month Victoria unwittingly found itself part of the travel bubble, with thousands of New Zealanders entering the state via NSW.
“We are not particularly pleased that we were asked the question, do you want to be in a bubble, and it turns out that even though we said no, we are, but that is the fact of the matter, that is what we faced,” Mr Andrews earlier said.
“It seems like the bubble applies to every part of our country, not just those that said yes.”
Andrews then conceded the state was now in the trans-Tasman bubble “whether we agree to it or not”.