COVID-19: Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

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International passenger arrival caps

Airlines continue to operate scheduled commercial flights to Australia. The majority of Australians return on scheduled commercial flights. You can learn more about carriers which continue to operate to Australia, here.

There are restrictions on the number of passengers airlines can carry. The number of passengers that each airline can carry to Australia is aligned with the number of places available in each port of arrival’s mandatory quarantine facilities. These allocations are known as 'international passenger arrival caps'.

These arrangements are:

agreed at National Cabinet, and administered by State and Territory authorities who assess their capacity and set their level of arrivals accordingly;
regularly updated with announcements posted on the High Commission social media accounts and at Australia.gov.au.

Airlines who operate scheduled commercial flights to Australia are required to ensure they stay within their allocation, and allocate seats accordingly.

Allocations

National Cabinet has set passenger arrival caps for inbound traffic to Australia.

New South Wales will accept 3,010 arrivals per week (430 per day)
Queensland will accept 1,000 arrivals per week
Western Australia will accept 1,025 arrivals per week
Victoria on 25 March 2021, Victoria announced it will resume international flights on 08 April 2021 with 800 passengers per week increasing to 1,120 passengers per week from 15 April 2021.
South Australia will accept 530 arrivals per week

The Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and Tasmania have individual arrangements and will be agreed as needed. The Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments have an agreement to quarantine international arrivals at Howard Springs. That facility currently has a cap of 850 per fortnight. On 05 March 2021, National Cabinet agreed to expand the capacity of Howard Springs to 2,000 per fortnight.

Testing, travel declarations and other requirements

There are requirements for COVID-19 testing, travel declarations and mask wearing in place for those returning to Australia.

Please refer to the information here.

State and Territory Health Authorities

State and Territory health authorities administered quarantine on arrival in Australia.

Find out their confirmation information by searching the list here.

Border restrictions

The Australian Government has strict-rules for entry to Australia to protect Australians from COVID-19.

For the latest information, please refer to the Department of Home Affairs here.

Passport and notarial services

Due to the significant increase in COVID related cases in the United Kingdom, we have temporarily suspended passport and notarials appointments. This is effective from 31 December until further notice. More information on passports is available here.