Landmark day for Melbourne Airport as quarantine-free travel returns

The first international flight that doesn’t require its fully vaccinated passengers to go into quarantine has touched down in Melbourne, making it a landmark day for airports across the country.

It’s been twenty months since international arrivals could freely enter the country without having to quarantine.

Unvaccinated passengers still have to complete two weeks of hotel quarantine.

The flight from Singapore touched down on Melbourne Airport on Monday morning, and Melbourne Airport CEO Lyell Strambi said it was “a good start”.

“It’s a really exciting day, great to see some activity coming back,” he told Tony Jones on 3AW Mornings.

“But really important for those passengers who are either desperate to get home, or those who are now desperate to venture overseas, whether it’s to be visit loved ones or holidays.

“It’s a great day, it’s a good start.”

It comes as only two weeks ago the airport had its worst day for passenger traffic in its history.

“Two weeks ago we had the worst day at the airport of this entire crisis, in fact the lowest day we’ve ever recorded,” he said.

“Only 700 passengers through, when we’d normally welcome something like 100,000 passengers on any given day, and more in peak periods like Christmas.”

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