Travellers planning to fly with Air New Zealand will need to ensure they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
The national airline of New Zealand is the latest to require all international travellers to have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine before they are allowed to fly. It follows a similar announcement by Australian airline Qantas last month.
From February 1, all travellers flying to any destination on Air New Zealand’s international network will have to be fully vaccinated or have exemption to board the flight. This does not apply to travellers flying domestically with the airline.
"We're getting ready to reconnect with the world and letting customers know what they need to do to be ready to take off when we can," says Air New Zealand's chief executive Greg Foran.
"Being vaccinated against Covid-19 is the new reality of international travel – many of the destinations Kiwis want to visit are already closed to unvaccinated visitors. The quicker we get vaccinated, the sooner we can fly Kiwis to places like New York, Vancouver and Narita.”
Air New Zealand's vaccination requirement will apply to all passengers aged 18 and older arriving or departing Aotearoa.
Travellers who are not vaccinated will have to present medical proof that shows exemption, or they will not be able to fly.
Ahead of restarting international flights, Air New Zealand says it will work closely with government and airport groups to finalise what the new rules will mean for passengers. This will likely include defining which vaccines are accepted, which age groups must be vaccinated and how far in advance travellers will have to have taken their jabs.
“We'll spend the next few months making sure we get this right, ensuring it works as smoothly as possible for our customers. This also gives anyone wanting to travel from next year plenty of time to get their vaccination,” said Foran.
Under the new rules, it's "not just customers who will be required to be vaccinated – it's everyone on board an Air New Zealand aircraft travelling internationally", Foran clarified. The airline has already mandated that pilots, cabin crew, airport and cargo staff must have had their first vaccine by Sunday, November 14.
New Zealand plans to reopen international borders to non-citizens early next year. The country has been closed to visitors since March 2020, and has some of the strictest rules in place for citizens looking to visit their home country.
As part of preparing for the restart of international travel, Air New Zealand said it will also roll out the International Air Transport Associations (IATA) Travel Pass app. This allows the airline to check people's health information against their flight details to ensure they meet entry requirements for that destination, as well as the airline's own rules.
“The app is based on decentralised technology which means there is no central database holding passenger information. Passengers have complete discretion as to whether they share their data or not and they can delete their data at any time on the app, without fear of this being stored," read an Air New Zealand statement.
Keane on …
Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”
Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”
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Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
Jebel Ali Dragons 26 Bahrain 23
Dragons
Tries: Hayes, Richards, Cooper
Cons: Love
Pens: Love 3
Bahrain
Tries: Kenny, Crombie, Tantoh
Cons: Phillips
Pens: Phillips 2
Walls
Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
Honeymoonish
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Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive, Google and Alphabet
Satya Nadella
Chief executive, Microsoft
Ajaypal Singh Banga
President and chief executive, Mastercard
Shantanu Narayen
Chief executive, chairman, and president, Adobe
Indra Nooyi
Board of directors, Amazon and former chief executive, PepsiCo
