Podcast #58: Trans-Tasman Travel Bubble Opens

Carl Herve with Alan Joyce
Qantas employee Carl Herve serves his caneles with airline CEO Alan Joyce at the reopening of the Qantas First Lounge. Photo: Carl Herve.

The long-awaited trans-Tasman travel bubble is finally here, with quarantine-free travel in both directions between Australia and New Zealand starting on Monday, 19 April! To celebrate, Qantas is reopening its flagship international First Class lounges in Sydney and Melbourne from the same date – and even Qantas Club, Gold members and Business class passengers will have access to them.

In a normal year, Qantas welcomes more than a million customers through the doors of its international First and Business lounges at Sydney Airport. Since late March 2020, that number has been zero. Now, nobody seems more excited for the international lounges to begin reopening than the lounge staff themselves!

Nestor and Verna outside Qantas First Lounge Sydney
Qantas First Class Hosts Nestor & Verna prepare to welcome back guests to the Qantas First Lounge in Sydney. Photo: Matt Graham.

Episode 58 of the fortnightly “AFF on AIR” podcast includes details about the trans-Tasman travel bubble (what happens if it bursts), and part of Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s speech about the launch of trans-Tasman flights, the reopening of Qantas’s international lounges and the strong recovery of Australia’s domestic aviation market.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce at SYD First Lounge
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce addresses the media at the reopening of the First Lounge in Sydney (you can listen to part of his speech in this episode). Photo: Matt Graham.

Also in this episode, Matt chats to Carl Herve, a Qantas employee who started a successful bakery business while stood down during the COVID-19 crisis. Although he’s now back working full-time in Qantas’ head office, Carl’s business has become so successful that he still bakes on the weekend – and even Qantas is now a customer!

Finally, find out how to get a Gold status fast-track with Qantas, Air New Zealand or Singapore Airlines thanks to three lucrative new offers.

 

Listen now to AFF on AIR Episode 58: “Trans-Tasman Travel Bubble Opens”

You can also view the episode notes. If you’d like to discuss this episode, ask Matt a question or suggest a topic for a future episode, you can join the discussion on the AFF on Air Discussion thread.

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The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
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