Sydney: Australia lifted ban on international travel into the country when Covid – 19 pandemic surged in 2020. Australian international border reopened on Monday almost 600 days after a pandemic closure began, sparking emotional scenes at Sydney airport as loved ones reunited.

Shortly after dawn, bleary eyed passengers began to trickle into the arrivals terminal at Kingsford Smith International and were quickly wrapped up in the tearful embraces of flower clutching relatives. Australia introduced some of the world’s toughest border restrictions in response to the Covid – 19 pandemic on March 20^th, 2020.

For the last 19 months, Australians have been banned from travelling overseas without permission. Families were split across continents, and tens of thousands of nationals were stranded overseas. The few who did gain permission to enter were forced to spend thousands of dollars and agree to spend 14 days locked in a hotel room.

Those conditions have now been dropped for the country’s two largest cities Sydney and Melbourne which will now allow vaccinated Australians to come and go without quarantine of any kind.

Australian airline Qantas CEO Alan Joyce calling the resumption of regular international flights a long time coming had grounded much of its fleet for more than 18 months. It’s wonderful to see Australians able to reunite with loved ones after such a long time apart, he said.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was a big day for Australia, posting on Facebook that the country was now ready for take-off! Travel is expected to resume slowly after such a protracted shutdown, with low passenger numbers on the first flights to arrive.

More than one million foreign residents remain stuck in Australia unable to see friends or relatives overseas, with the relaxed travel rules applying mainly to citizens. Some Australian states with lower vaccination rates will remain virtually closed to the world, as they still have mandatory and costly 14 day hotel quarantine requirements in place.