SYDNEY: Qantas Airways Ltd has seen a significant rise in international ticket searches and bookings since Australia said it would reopen its borders to vaccinated travellers this month, a senior executive says.

       Andrew David, the airline’s chief executive for domestic and international, said bookings for flights into Australia had doubled on the first day following Monday’s announcement that borders would open on Feb 21.

       “Bookings are strongest out of the United States and the United Kingdom.

       “We’ve also seen spikes from South Africa, India and Canada, with March, April and May the most popular months for travel,” David said in a statement.

       Australia has kept its borders all but shut for nearly two years during the pandemic.

       International travel spending plunged from A$44.6bil (US$31.93bil or RM133.77bil) in the 2018/19 financial year to A$1.3bil (RM3.90bil) in 2020/21, said Tourism Research Australia.

       China and New Zealand, which were Australia’s largest inbound markets in 2019 before the pandemic, remain effectively shut because travellers face lengthy quarantine when returning home.

       The US and Britain, the third and fourth biggest inbound tourism markets respectively in 2019, do not require any isolation for returning travellers.

       Qantas plans to restart several international routes in the coming weeks, including Sydney-Dallas, Brisbane-Singapore, Sydney-Manila and Brisbane-Los Angeles.

       Qantas is the world’s third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded in November 1920; it began international passenger flights in May 1935. — Reuters