Canberrans itching for a change of scenery could cross the ditch as soon as July, with a trial flight between Canberra and New Zealand floated as the opening of the Trans-Tasman travel bubble.
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The proposed route between Canberra and Wellington has been touted for a July 1 take-off, with the final decision in the hands of Australian and New Zealand governments and health officials.
Interstate travel between Canberra, South Australia and Tasmania may also be on the cards for July, following discussion between the state and territory governments.
Canberra Airport chief executive Stephen Byron said the two capitals were the safest cities to begin an incremental return to air travel.
"Our airports are not generally, and we won't in the near future, receive these quarantine return arrivals," he told ABC Radio Canberra.
"All of the staff at the airport and all of the services in the international terminal ... won't have seen any other international passengers for at least three weeks by the time this flight arrives."
"This would be the opening of the bubble," Mr Byron said, and travellers would not be required to undertake the two-week quarantine necessary for all other returned travellers.
One flight per day for Qantas and Air New Zealand has been proposed, and Mr Byron said he expected "huge demand" for the route.
Interested travellers can register from Thursday on the Canberra Airport website, so it can gauge the popularity of the proposition.
"We know there is a backlog of people on both sides of the ditch that want to reunite with family," he said.
"People that have lost their jobs on both sides of the Tasman and need to re-organise their living arrangements ... then there is the holidaymakers."
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Mr Byron said flight prices should be "relatively normal" and not inflated because of the pandemic.
"Indeed you want to make it competitive and attractive," he said.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the test flight was an "important first step" to rebuild Canberra's aviation and tourism industries.
International borders have closed due to the pandemic and Mr Barr said so few available destinations made it more economically viable for airlines to run small flights on a small number of routes.
"If you can only fly to six (destinations) safely, without quarantine then the size of the market increases and with smaller aircraft these airlines have ... it looks much more economic than would be the case previously."
A Trans-Tasman travel bubble had been floated by the New Zealand and Australian Prime Ministers last month, as both countries had recorded success in flattening the coronavirus curve.
New Zealand has gone 12 days without a new COVID-19 case in its mission to eliminate the virus.
In Australia, eight new cases were recorded on Wednesday. Seven in Victoria and one in Western Australia.
NSW has had more than one week of no cases of community transmission whereas the ACT has reached a milestone of one month without a new case.
Mr Byron said temperature checks were essential in the Canberra terminal, as was physical distancing and ramped up cleaning measures were in place.