The first flights into the Sunshine State from Sydney and Melbourne have landed, as the families reunited for the first time in months thanks to state borders reopening.
Queues at Sydney and Melbourne airports are already filling up as passengers travel to Queensland in their thousands, with 6,000 arrivals expected on Tuesday alone.
The Sunshine State slammed its border shut to the entire nation on March 26, before slowly reopening to low-risk states.
The final COVID-19 hotspot declarations on Victoria and Sydney blocking them from entry were lifted at 1am on Tuesday.
Emotional scenes at Brisbane airport unfolded by 8am, with families hugging their loved ones and crowds swelled at arrivals.
Passenger Matt Jacovi (left) is seen re-uniting with his wife Ashley and daughter Payten after arriving on a flight from Sydney at the Brisbane Domestic Airport in Brisbane
A passenger reacts after arriving on a flight from Sydney at the Brisbane Domestic Airport in Brisbane on Tuesday
The Sunshine State slammed its border shut to the entire nation on March 26, before slowly reopening to low-risk states. Pictured: Sydney airport on Tuesday morning
Virgin Australia will make more than 100,000 seats available to travellers from the two states before Christmas and Qantas has scheduled 410 flights per week.
It is hoped the new flights will help to bolster the state’s fledgling economy, which has been hit hard by the lack of international and domestic tourism since the coronavirus pandemic began.
‘Queensland’s health-led economic recovery is set to really take off … and with that will come more jobs for Queenslanders,’ Deputy Premier Steven Miles told reporters.
‘Tourism industry sources tell me anecdotally they are already experiencing a significant uplift in activity, with one booking agent reporting a 300 per cent increase in the number of calls,’ Mr Miles said.
Virgin Australia will make more than 100,000 seats available to travellers from the two states before Christmas and Qantas has scheduled 410 flights per week (pictured, queues in Sydney)
Seventeen flights will touch down in Brisbane on Tuesday from Brisbane, while nine will arrive from Melbourne
Victorians haven’t been allowed to travel into Queensland since March unless undergoing mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine.
Sydneysiders were briefly allowed into the state in winter before being barred again on August 8 when cases in Sydney rose.
Seventeen flights will touch down in Brisbane on Tuesday from Brisbane, while nine will arrive from Melbourne.
Passengers were captured sharing emotional reunions with loved ones in the terminal, after being separated for months due to the pandemic.
A media scrum awaited passengers who touched down in Brisbane at 8am from the first flight from Sydney.
A woman and her eight-year-old daughter were filmed reuniting with her husband after four months apart.
Camera crews swarmed the family as they hugged in the terminal at gate 18.
‘I’m just so happy. This is so special,’ the mother told The Today Show through tears.
About 6000 people are booked to fly into Brisbane airport from NSW and Victoria on Tuesday, with numbers expected to soar in the coming days (pictured, queeus in Sydney)
A small orchestra was seen awaiting arriving passengers at gate 18 of Brisbane airport on Tuesday morning to welcome in travellers
Another traveller was ecstatic to go back to the Sunshine State without having to undergo hotel quarantine, which has since been scrapped to domestic passengers.
‘First flight home! No isolation, you beauty. I made it!,’ he told reporters.
A father was also seen touching down to visit his two young daughters, who he has been separated from for five months due to border closures.
‘I’ll go and surprise them and pick them up from school. It’s been a tough year but I’m looking forward to seeing them,’ he said.
A small orchestra was seen awaiting arriving passengers at gate 18 of Brisbane airport on Tuesday morning to welcome in travellers.
Tourists are expected to spend $3.5billion in Queensland in the coming month, which Mr Miles said would lead to more businesses reopening and people finding employment.
Queensland has also scrapped the border pass system and work has started to remove the road checkpoints along the southern border.
It means for the first time in 250 days, police are no longer required at Queensland border checkpoints.
Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski asked motorists coming from northern NSW to be patient, particularly in the Gold Coast and Goondawindi areas.
Police will continue to randomly intercept vehicles crossing the border to check if any travellers from Greater Adelaide are trying to sneak into Queensland.
For the first time in 250 days police are no longer required at Queensland border checkpoints (pictured, the border early on Tuesday morning)
Travellers from that hotspot will have to wait another week to learn if a welcome mat will be thrown out to them.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said on Monday she needed more time to assess the ongoing Adelaide virus cluster, that has now grown to 33 people.
But people from the Adelaide area will have to wait until next week before knowing when they can travel to the Sunshine State.
South Australia’s Parafield cluster remains at 33 after no new cases were recorded on Monday.
There are 14 active cases in the cluster.