Canberra, Jan 8 Australian flag carrier Qantas has resumed bookings for international flights which will begin from July 1, in a promising sign that overseas travel might return sooner than expected.
The airline started taking bookings for almost all flights across its international network late Tuesday with a few exceptions including New York, Fiji and Santiago, reports Xinhua news agency.
"Recently we have aligned the selling of our international services to reflect our expectation that international travel will begin to restart from July 2021," a Qantas spokesperson said on Friday.
"We continue to review and update our international schedule in response to the developing Covid-19 situation," the spokesperson added.
While tickets were on sale, the airline said the restart of international flying would be subject to vaccine roll-outs and the reopening of international borders.
The airline runs a small number of international flights over the past few months, largely to bring Austral stranded overseas home.
New Zealand is the only overseas destination serviced by Qantas at the moment.
Some international flights for sale from March towards Asian destinations like Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore have been pushed back to July, allowing more time to create safe travel bubbles.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said despite Qantas' plan, international borders will not be reopened until it is safe to do so.
"International borders will be opened when international arrivals do not pose a risk to Austral," McCormack said in a statement.
"The Australian government is working on travel arrangements with countries, such as New Zealand, that have low community infections."
( With inputs from IANS )
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