Australians Might Be Able to Start Travelling Overseas From 1 July

A draft timeline for the Trans-Tasman travel 'bubble' has been revealed.

Over the past few months, travel has been heavily restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Australian government is still advising that all non-essential travel should be cancelled, and most states and territories have border restrictions in place.

On top that, international travel is still banned for the time being.

So, it's only natural that you've been dreaming of your next big overseas holiday once the pandemic is over.

While you might not have expected to be able to head to another country for quite some time, it looks like you could be hopping on a plane sooner than you thought.

According to a timetable produced by the Tourism Restart Taskforce, a flight between Canberra and Wellington has been proposed to take place on 1 July. Plus, travel to the Pacific, and other countries deemed "safe" could start happening in September.

At this stage, it's not entirely clear what other countries would be considered "safe" to travel to. Although, there were reports earlier this month that people could possibly start travelling to Bali in October.

Additionally, planes don't generally fly between Canberra and Wellington, so airlines would need to change their routes based on where is safe to fly.

The taskforce meets once a week with government to discuss reopening the tourism industry. At last week's meeting on 22 May, the taskforce approved the timetable covering domestic travel and events, along with international travel.

However, it's important to note that the timetable is only "aspirational", and will need to be approved by governments. That means the dates are not set in stone, and could change depending on health advice.

Credit: Australian Chamber Tourism

The taskforce's timetable includes a bunch of tourist activities like visiting attractions, domestic flights and international flights.

As reported by 7 News, Aussies wouldn't have to quarantine for 14 days when they arrive in New Zealand.

The Chair of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, John Hart, told 7 News that no airline has been chosen for the first flight yet.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden also told both Australian and New Zealand residents not to get too excited, despite the enthusiasm to get the Trans-Tasman travel 'bubble' going.

"Obviously what we want to do is make sure that we've got all of that border work in place, that we are ready to go when we have agreement on both sides of the Tasman that it is safe to proceed," Ms Ardern told Radio New Zealand.

"One of the conversations we've had is that we've perhaps had a little bit more time to see what is happening with our efforts to stamp out Covid with eased restrictions."

Ms Ardern added, "Australia in some cases is just getting into that, so I'd say good work is taking place and it won't be too long before we will be ready."

According to the timetable, all international travel could restart from 15 December.

Prepare to start packing your bags.