After more than 700 days of border restrictions, Western Australia (WA) will finally open its borders to fully vaccinated travelers at 12:01 local time on March 3, 2022.
Western Australia originally planned for an earlier opening, however, it was delayed on January 20, 2022 due to the rising case of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19.
“WA’s short delay of the full border opening has allowed WA’s third dose vaccination rate to climb to record levels and given children the opportunity to be vaccinated, while the Omicron wave peaked and declined in the Eastern States,” the state government said in a statement.
Australia has had one of the world’s toughest border restrictions with the country opening to fully vaccinated tourists on February 21, 2022. However, Western Australia has imposed stricter border regulations than the rest of the country.
This led to Qantas opting to use Darwin as a transit hub for its Kangaroo route to London, and even extending it due to uncertainties over Western Australia’s border reopening date.
Quarantine-free travel to Western Australia is set to begin on March 3, 2022, and 8,000 arrivals are expected to fly in at Perth Airport over the next couple of days.
The first domestic flight to arrive in WA’s capital, Perth, will be a Qantas flight, QF653 from Sydney to Perth, touching down at 12:05am local time. A quarter of arrivals are due to come from overseas, arriving on flights from Dubai, Singapore, Doha, Kuala Lumpur and Auckland.
“We had to cancel thousands of flights when the border reopening was canceled in February and tens of thousands of travelers had their plans ruined, but while the reopening has been complicated, it’s great that Aussies can now travel freely again,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement.
While WA is set to welcome travelers without quarantine, the state government still has requirements about testing and vaccination.
Interstate travel into WA will be permitted with the following requirements:
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have a registered G2G Pass;
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be triple dose vaccinated, if eligible;
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undertake a rapid antigen test on arrival (within 12 hours and report any positive result).
International travelers into WA will be permitted with the following requirements:
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meet Commonwealth Government requirements to enter Australia;
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be fully vaccinated under the Commonwealth requirements, if eligible;
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have a registered G2G Pass;
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undertake a rapid antigen test on arrival (within 12 hours and report any positive result); and
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unvaccinated returning Australians will be required to complete hotel quarantine.
WA also said in a statement that they are currently providing all interstate and international arrivals with two Rapid Antigen tests so they can self-administer at home, and from March 3, 2022, one test will be provided to each passenger on arrival.