COVID-19: NSW Borders open to Victoria from 23 November

The airlines will be calling for a socially distanced COVID-19 responsible party in between their work re-scheduling flights on Australia’s premier domestic route – SYD-MEL.

With Victoria getting the pandemic under control particularly in Melbourne, Premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian is opening the border to the southern state from 23 November 2020.

You should see flights scheduled Melbourne to Sydney return routes blossom over the next week.

19 flights from Sydney on first day

I’m seeing 11 Qantas flights and 4 Jetstar flights on the first day with Red e-Deal’s of AU$199 per leg. There are the same number of flights for the return leg.

Virgin Australia has scheduled only 4 flights, the cheapest is AU$149, but mostly around the AU$165 mark. There are only 2 flights for the return leg in the late afternoon and evening.

Rex to join the route in 4 months

Rex, who plan to compete on the route, are not yet up and running despite receiving their first 737-800, the aircraft they plan to use on the route. They will not launch their capital city assault, codenamed ‘Mother’ (get it – the opposite of ‘Virgin’) until March 2021.

According to ET, this will be a Virgin flight without the branding. The aircraft, the pilots, and the cabin staff are all expected to be ex-Virgin.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

With Sydney – Melbourne flights heading back to normal and the resumption of international fights into Melbourne at the end of November, it feels like Australia is returning to normal, with only two states – Western Australia and Queensland maintaining internal border restrictions.

This is all welcome news. However, don’t forget it was the relaxation of rules in Europe over Summer that has led to a 2nd – or maybe a 3rd wave of COVID-19 infections that is looking more severe than the first.

Just because borders are re-opening, don’t slacken off your COVID-19 precautions. Wear face masks, sanitise, and maintain social distance!

Now, back to the American Presidential election . . .