Cover Qantas has announced its plans to resume international as soon as October 31, 2021. (Photo: Qantas/Instagram)

The airline is reportedly looking into digital health passports that will verify whether passengers have been vaccinated

Qantas has recently announced its plans to resume international flights in and out of Australia as soon as October 31 of this year after nearly a year of ceasing international operations in response to the pandemic.

While the airline had previously announced that it would be resuming flights as soon as the summer of 2021, the new date change aligns with the expected timeframe for Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout to be completed thus sparing the country the risk of a third wave of the virus.

The Australian airline is set to resume flights to 22 of the 25 destinations it served before the pandemic, including Singapore, London, Johannesburg, and Los Angeles. Cities including Osaka and New York will be excluded at the moment but will be available via codeshare flights.

“Capacity will be lower than pre-Covid levels, with frequencies and aircraft type deployed on each route in line with the projected recovery of international flying,” the airline said in an earlier press release. “The Group remains in close consultation with the Federal Government around the reopening of international borders and will keep customers updated if further adjustments are required.”

The airline has also revealed that it will be assessing the use of digital health pass apps in order to help support the resumption of “Covid-safe international travel.” The CommonPass and IATA Travel Pass apps are currently being trialled on the airline’s existing international repatriation flights.

While this all comes as promising news for would-be travellers longing for the days that international travel resumes, Qantas continues to urge that it doesn’t expect travel to resume as usual until at least 2024. 

See also: Signs the Travel Lockdown Is Affecting Your Mental Health, and When to Seek Help