Two repatriation flights are planned to arrive in Tonga on 14 January, with the first from Auckland, New Zealand, and the second from Samoa.

A total of 280 passengers (259 from Auckland, and 21 from Samoa) are expected to arrive on the flights.

MEIDECC CEO, Paula Ma’u, confirmed the flight from Auckland will be the usual commercial flight.

Tonga’s Lulutai Airlines plane will be chartered to repatriate passengers from Samoa.

Another chartered flight from Brisbane, Australia, is also expected to arrive in Tonga on 22 January, to pick up 152 seasonal workers.

Quarantine-free flights from NZ to Australia

Meanwhile, Air New Zealand will operate its first quarantine-free flight from Auckland to Brisbane tomorrow.

This means passengers on the flight will not be required to quarantine on arrival in Brisbane. However, they are required to have been in New Zealand for 14 days before travel.

Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty said flights from Auckland to Brisbane will operate similarly to the flights operating to Sydney and Melbourne – with quarantine-free flights for people whose travel originates in New Zealand, and quarantine flights for people who do not meet the Safe Travel Zone criteria and are required to quarantine on arrival in Australia.

Air New Zealand currently operates five return flights per week between Auckland and Brisbane. Three of these flights will be quarantine-free, while two are quarantine flights.

The quarantine-free flights are a one-way arrangement and those returning to New Zealand are required to quarantine for 14 days, pay for quarantine and register their managed isolation accommodation requirements via the New Zealand Government’s Managed Isolation and Quarantine website [2].