Holiday-starved, fully vaccinated Kiwis can now fly to Fiji and its 333 islands for two-way quarantine-free travel.
The country’s national airline Fiji Airways departs Auckland Airport at 5:15PM and touches down in Nadi on March 5 at 7pm with a plane full of keen holiday makers for the first time since March 2019.
Tourism Fiji is currently observing a 55 per cent increase in traffic to their website, www.fiji.travel in the first 24-hours after the announcement of New Zealand’s home isolation requirements easing, as Kiwis explore Fiji as a post pandemic holiday destination.
Fiji Airways is currently operating four flights a week from Auckland, New Zealand, with daily flights scheduled to launch from April 14. The airline has scheduled to launch up to three flights a week from Christchurch from April 14, and up to two flights a week from Wellington from April 13.
“We’re so excited to finally resume commercial flights between New Zealand and Nadi after two long years. We’ve seen an influx of Kiwis interested in flying to Fiji and we expect to see the demand continue to increase over the coming months. It’s a joy to be able to welcome our Kiwi neighbours back on board with our famous hospitality and friendly Bula Spirit and safely transport them on a long overdue holiday in Fiji,” says Fiji Airways managing director and CEO Andre Viljoen.
"Fiji and our people can’t wait to welcome Kiwis back to our shores. We’ve been waiting for this moment for two years and I can assure New Zealand that Fiji is ready to welcome you back safely for two-way quarantine free travel with our Care Fiji Commitment. Fiji is well and truly open for happiness and we can’t wait to give them the holiday that they all deserve right now," says Brent Hill, Tourism Fiji CEO.
Sonya Lawson, Tourism Fiji regional director for New Zealand says: “We’re anticipating high demand from New Zealand with the borders opening. Fiji has always been a popular hot spot for Kiwis, previously being Fiji’s second largest source market and accounting for more than 200,000 visitors each year and we’ve seen that many Kiwis are already eager to get back to the place where happiness finds them.”
Safety is a priority for Fiji and its national airline.
Fiji successfully opened to the world on December 1, 2021, boasts world-leading vaccination rates (93 per cent of eligible population) and has launched the Care Fiji Commitment (CFC) programme.
Approved by the World Health Organisation, World Travel and Tourism Council and accredited by Aspen Medical the Commitment is a nationwide programme applying best practice health and safety measures designed to protect Fiji’s locals and its travellers.
Fiji Airways' entire workforce is vaccinated and has implemented an award-winning Travel Ready programme dedicated to the safety and wellness of guests and staff.
The airline is the only airline in the Australia-Pacific region to achieve both a Skytrax 5-Star COVID Safety rating and the highest Hospital Grade “Diamond” certification by APEX Health and Safety. Fiji Airways also has medically qualified Customer Wellness Champions onboard to offer medical guidance and assistance if required.
The new normal for international travel
To allow ample time for increased documentation checks and to help minimise delays, Fiji Airways international check-in counters currently open 4 hours prior to departure and close two hours prior to departure.
Travellers to Fiji must be fully vaccinated with a Fiji recognised dose, be from a Travel Partner country, which New Zealand is considered and provide a negative Rapid Antigen Test no more than 24 hours prior to departure or a negative PCR taken no more than two calendar days prior to departure.
Once they arrive on Fiji’s shores, travellers can holiday in designated travel-safe areas where they can enjoy the best of Fiji knowing that everyone they interact with will be fully vaccinated.
