All borders to reopen.

[KRviator]

Originally Posted by SOPS

I always wonder about this 50000 people who are trying to get home. The number has never changed. But at Perth airport alone, more than 60000 people have passed through since the pandemic began.

I'm not sure it's as high as 60,000. BTRE figures for April 2020 - June 2021 show 48,234 international arrivals through Perth, and with your State Daddy demanding the arrivals cap be slashed to only 265 per week (compared to NSW's 215 per day, for example...) that'd probably be under 55,000, and still less than WA's fair share.

Originally Posted by SOPS

I don’t know what the numbers for the other states… but the total would far exceed 50000. I can’t figure out why the number never changes.. there are always 50000 people waiting to get home.

The numbers are freely available from the BTRE, but here they are - and no, I don't know why BTRE excludes specific repatriation flights through Darwin and only shows 63 arrivals...

Maybe more Wes-Tyrannical Australian's should be made aware that WA are being jack c*nts (those Ex-ADF folk will recognise this term) and lobby their State Daddy to actually pull their weight. Then again, the way they've carried on, I think I've got more chance of taking home the Powerball jackpot tomorrow...

[aviation_enthus]

Originally Posted by SOPS

I always wonder about this 50000 people who are trying to get home. The number has never changed. But at Perth airport alone, more than 60000 people have passed through since the pandemic began. I don’t know what the numbers for the other states… but the total would far exceed 50000. I can’t figure out why the number never changes.. there are always 50000 people waiting to get home.

And to quote your illustrious leader…..

”some people have been in and out of Australia 8 times!”

Even the Aus govt figures have show that almost 50% of arrivals in 2021 have been NON Australian citizens (movie stars, business people etc).

So halve your 60,000 to 30,000. Out of a city the size of Perth, that’s jack****. Considering some of the remaining 30,000 would be people with lots of cash coming for a holiday to visit family (rich expats), you can reduce that number even further.

I can tell you from personal experience that buying tickets from where we are (UAE) would have cost a minimum of $30,000 AUD, ONE WAY (highest was $45,000) If you wanted to come from the USA, last price I saw was $14,000 USD per ticket.

How many families have that sort of cash lying around?? We certainly don’t. It’s fine if you’re single and the boss is paying (business travel) or even a couple that really needs to get back, but for families, forget it.

Plus to add to this cost, because the government keeps changing the caps, if your flight is rebooked you might have to wait an additional 3-5 months for a new spot. Really helpful if you’ve just moved out in expectation of your flight in a few days. Because you’ll only find out a few days before that you no longer have seats. Then if you try to get a refund a rebook with another airline, you’ll need an ADDITIONAL $30,000+ to book again while you wait for Qatar/EK/Etihad/etc to refund your tickets.

So if you’re wondering why the number of “stranded Aussies” keeps growing, look at what it actually takes (and the money required) to get home. Ask yourself if you would be stuck if that’s what it cost to get back to your own country???

But this has been explained to you (SOPS) many times before and you still don’t seem to understand.

[aviation_enthus]

Originally Posted by Dannyboy39

It seems to be a question thrown at every country at this point, and it remains relevant here.

Theoretical scenario: I could live with a mate who has an Australian passport (I’m British). We could work in the same office, drive the same car, get the same public transport, go to the same bars and restaurants and the same stadiums. We are both fully vaccinated for months in what is a waning immunity after 6 months.

Come Nov 1, he is accepted across the Australian border yet I am not. Why is that? Is it about a virus?

There is no difference between your mate and you.

But perhaps in some small way the Australian Government is feeling a little bit guilty over the way they’ve treated Aussies on the “wrong side” of the border for almost 2 years. Allowing a small snippet of sympathy and letting us buy tickets first is a small luxury after being royally ….. for the last 2 years.

To add, the flights I can see into Sydney are filling rapidly well into November already. So this idea that we “need” tourists to generate demand is rubbish. Clear the backlog and give Australians a chance first. Maybe in December when Victoria opens up, then they can make it open to anyone.

[Telfer86]

The RPT passenger numbers for August are truly woeful , about 12 % of pre-Covid pax numbers , Perth - Karratha up there as a major route
Numbers will remain woeful until EOY
Good news Qld to open to hotspots at 80% , predicted to be December 17th
Difficult to see anybody doing advance bookings , in anticipation the event will occur given how the airlines have conducted themselves (no refund for you peasant)
What are SA, NT , Tas going to do ?
Clearly they won't open before Qld , hopefully they will match it but heard something about some places wanting 90%

Also anyone want to hazard a guess as to what might happen if Victorian numbers remain high ? 2000 + or so , or are we just going to keep shrieking & repeating the phrase "numbers are irrelevant" & do a rain dance
Each to their own opinion , the issue is it seems a lot of OS Medical guys(& countries, ie: Singapore) don't subscribe to that little theory - will invoking Australian exceptionalism make it it different for us ?

[Ladloy]

Originally Posted by Telfer86

Also anyone want to hazard a guess as to what might happen if Victorian numbers remain high ? 2000 + or so , or are we just going to keep shrieking & repeating the phrase "numbers are irrelevant" & do a rain dance
Each to their own opinion , the issue is it seems a lot of OS Medical guys(& countries, ie: Singapore) don't subscribe to that little theory - will invoking Australian exceptionalism make it it different for us ?

Isn't this what PPRuNe has been wanting this whole time? The wheels are in motion and there's no stopping it now, lockdowns in Vic and NSW are now a thing of the past, people will die and who knows what will happen with demand in flying.
The modelling is public with different scenarios.
Here is the modelling for vic https://burnet.edu.au/system/asset/f...918_-FINAL.pdf

[Clare Prop]

Originally Posted by SOPS

I always wonder about this 50000 people who are trying to get home. The number has never changed. But at Perth airport alone, more than 60000 people have passed through since the pandemic began. I don’t know what the numbers for the other states… but the total would far exceed 50000. I can’t figure out why the number never changes.. there are always 50000 people waiting to get home.

Numbers here. Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, August 2021 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)
I know that only something like 39% of people arriving were Australian citizens a few months ago.

[PoppaJo]

Many people are leaving that’s why. Funerals, Partners, Study, ‘Study’, Internet love, weddings, and a whole lot of other useless reasons I won’t bore you.

I know someone who went to the states to ‘study’, to catch up with his newly found online lover, and now wants to come back.

I think the vast majority are back. That’s those who are actually coming home after a long time away. Then there are those who have always been back, yet find themselves overseas largely for no good reason at all, and now whinge cause they can’t get back!

[Expired101]

SOPS and Obba,

I’m an overseas Aussie and have been overseas since well before the pandemic started. I have been employed mostly throughout, as have roughly a dozen other Aussie friends I have in the country that we are in. To my knowledge none of us have ever registered with DFAT to come home and therefore would not be included in the 40,000-50,000 waiting to return. I imagine there are tens of thousands out there in similar situations to us. And to be honest, Australia is not the same place it was when I left, and I’m quite happy not being there. I’d be lying if I said I was proud to be an Aussie at certain times over the course of the last 20 odd months.

Should any of us have the unfortunate circumstance arise such as, losing a job, contract completion, being placed on LWOP indefinitely, have a family member become ill (here or at home), and we wish to come home, then we would have to register with DFAT and would be added to the list of those 40-50,000 waiting to come home.

Or maybe we might register because we just feel like trying to come home and reunite with family and friends who continually check in on us to see if we are doing ok, and perhaps meet new additions to the family that arrived since we were last home. There really is hundreds of reasons how people like us have found ourselves in the position we are in, each slightly different. The decision to jump in line is easier for some than it is for others.

Add the issue of the ever diminishing arrival caps, and it’s pretty clear how the number doesn’t go down.

Can you now figure it out fellas?

[rattman]

Originally Posted by Expired101

I’m quite happy not being there. I’d be lying if I said I was proud to be an Aussie at certain times over the course of the last 20 odd months.

So you created a new account to tell us that you are happy not to be here. Should I create a new account to tell you that I am happy that you aren't here as well ?

[kiwi grey]

I always wonder about this 50000 people who are trying to get home. The number has never changed. But at Perth airport alone, more than 60000 people have passed through since the pandemic began. I don’t know what the numbers for the other states… but the total would far exceed 50000. I can’t figure out why the number never changes.. there are always 50000 people waiting to get home.

For contrast, New Zealand currently conducts what is in effect a lottery for Hotel Quarantine (we call in Managed Isolation & Quarantine, "MIQ").
That system has released between 3,000 and 4,000 places each fortnight or so, and every time so far there has been around 30,000 entries (i.e. "lottery tickets" bought). One in ten may not be bad odds for a lottery where you're hoping to win some / lotsa money, but it's pretty depressing when it's your chances of getting home to share Grandma's 90th birthday.
Seeing as how Australia has about five times the population of NZ, the estimate of 50,000 expatriate Aussies wanting to come home seems pretty low, actually

[C441]

Originally Posted by kiwi grey

Seeing as how Australia has about five times the population of NZ, the estimate of 50,000 expatriate Aussies wanting to come home seems pretty low, actually

And even lower when you consider there's more than 4000 Queensland residents (and another 9000 prospective residents) who have been stuck just outside that state for weeks, in some cases months, trying just to get home which in some cases is no more than hour's drive away.
"No problem" says the Health Minister; "you'll be able to drive home in another 9 weeks and wont even have to quarantine."

[aviation_enthus]

Originally Posted by C441

And even lower when you consider there's more than 4000 Queensland residents (and another 9000 prospective residents) who have been stuck just outside that state for weeks, in some cases months, trying just to get home which in some cases is no more than hour's drive away.
"No problem" says the Health Minister; "you'll be able to drive home in another 9 weeks and wont even have to quarantine."

Now this policy really is pathetic. I honestly don’t know how Palletjack and Miles sleep at night.

Imagine a policy that CREATES homeless people in Australia just because that state can’t create a process to allow residents to get home.

As a proud Queenslander, this pandemic has made me despise the heartless decisions of the state government.

[Ironpot]

Originally Posted by aviation_enthus

Now this policy really is pathetic. I honestly don’t know how Palletjack and Miles sleep at night.

Imagine a policy that CREATES homeless people in Australia just because that state can’t create a process to allow residents to get home.

As a proud Queenslander, this pandemic has made me despise the heartless decisions of the state government.

Not pathetic at all. They are in "results" business ... their results are brilliant! Maybe you should move somewhere else?

In case you missed it, all Palaszczuk does is follow Jeanette Young's instructions. EXACTLY what Deb Frecklington intended to do too!

[logansi]

Victoria will join NSW and open international borders with no quarantine from Nov 1.

[KRviator]

The latest from the Democratic People's Replublic of Wes-Tyrannical Australia:

Tuesday: We're going to open the border to Queensland - No quarantine required! Hooray!
Wednesday: Under no circumstances will we be reopening WA to either NSW, Victoria or the ACT before Christmas. If we do that, WA citizens might have to wear masks on Christmas Day, and I won't have that. Oh, and I don't care that NSW is now below the 500 cases threshold that they shouldn't be Extreme Risk anymore. We're keeping them there because their cases are going to go up again.
Thursday: Oh, well, now Queensland have had 1 Covid case who might have been out 'n' about while infectious, so you know what, we ain't gonna reopen the border tomorrow, we'll have another look at it next week. Maybe.

Seriously, how TF is anyone supposed to make any kind of plan with this asreclown in charge? His comments about not reopening to NSW because WA might have to wear masks or have capacity limits for Christmas show exactly where his train of thought is - and it's no longer the health advice!

[PoppaJo]

If WA drifted off mysteriously into the Indian Ocean tomorrow, it wouldn’t even make the 6pm news over here.

I mean, they are normally the butt end of many jokes these days in the cockpit over this way anyway. Nobody cares.

[logansi]

Originally Posted by PoppaJo

If WA drifted off mysteriously into the Indian Ocean tomorrow, it wouldn’t even make the 6pm news over here.

I mean, they are normally the butt end of many jokes these days in the cockpit over this way anyway. Nobody cares.

Even better they could somehow float into the South China Sea and join the country they are mirroring. China is trying to build some islands out there aren't they?

[Ladloy]

Originally Posted by logansi

Even better they could somehow float into the South China Sea and join the country they are mirroring. China is trying to build some islands out there aren't they?

That's such an insane stretch

[Colonel_Klink]

The ABC and The Age are both reporting tonight changing border requirements:

- ABC saying that international arrivals won’t have to quarantine arriving into Vic from start of November in line with NSW

- The Age reporting that NSW will open up to Victorians to holiday as of November 1.

Both of these requirements only applying to those that are double vaccinated.

A sense of normality starts to return?

[logansi]

Originally Posted by Colonel_Klink

The ABC and The Age are both reporting tonight changing border requirements:

- ABC saying that international arrivals won’t have to quarantine arriving into Vic from start of November in line with NSW

- The Age reporting that NSW will open up to Victorians to holiday as of November 1.

Both of these requirements only applying to those that are double vaccinated.

A sense of normality starts to return?

The beginning of the recovering starts now, it will be long and bumpy but the worst of the aviation decimation is over.