COVID-19: Melbourne Airport reopens to international arrivals today

Melbourne Airport has been closed to international arrivals since their severe ‘2nd Wave’ lockdown came into operation roughly 125 days ago. On 8 July 2020, restrictions were imposed in Victoria following a second COVID-19 outbreak involving security guards at Melbourne quarantine hotels used for international arrivals.

International arrivals open today

Today marks the first day where international passenger flights are being accepted to Melbourne Airport.

We will see the arrival of just 125 passengers over 8 passenger flights on the first day that Melbourne International arrivals are open. Well, at least that’s according to Radio National this morning.

Flights

Below is the Melbourne Airport schedule for arrivals. Don’t be fooled by the apparent 18 listings. Look at the background shading and estimated arrival times and origin. Codeshares are shown as separate lines. In fact there are only 8 arrivals.

Quarantine hiccough

The opening of the airport to international arrivals is going ahead, despite the discovery of two international passengers who were mistakenly allowed to travel after their arrival in Sydney on to Melbourne without quarantine. NSW Police have admitted that one of their staff made an error in letting the passengers board the domestic flight. The travellers were discovered by alert security personnel in Melbourne when the passengers were overheard discussing where they might find the bus to take them to hotel quarantine. The arrivals were both Australians returning from Germany.

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.

This is great news, to have Australia’s 2nd largest arrivals gateway open to returning Australians. If 125 is the limit per day, that would add up to another 875 passengers allowed to arrive into Australia each week. That will assist in getting Australians stranded overseas home for Christmas.