Mr. Bruce Buchanan, chief executive of Jetstar, announced an end to requiring passports for travels between Australia and New Zealand. According to him, flights between the two countries should be treated as domestic flights.
"We have Europe and North America working out how to make travel easier," he uttered.
"For two countries which are so closely aligned in cultural and legal systems, there has got to be a way to get it worked out so that we have a common border and trans-Tasman flights are treated like a domestic trip. Technology has got to the point where you can automate a lot of the processes behind the scenes”, he added.
Mr. Buchanan projects such a change would produce an additional 326,000 passenger movements a year across the Tasman, reduce some $250 million in costs and inject at least $100m a year in GDP for both Australia and New Zealand. "It would be the single biggest boost to the tourism industry on both sides of the Tasman," the chief executive said.
Chief executive Bruce Buchanan also delivered a further expansion of trans-Tasman operations with the launch of direct flights between Melbourne and Queenstown, and Gold Coast to Queenstown, starting from December.
JetStar's chief also stated that the first step towards cutting the Australian immigration and Customs issues involved in the trans-Tasman flights is to handle all the processing in one destination.
"Step one would be to do it on one side of the Tasman," he said.
However, Australian and New Zealand citizens can enter each other's country to visit, live and work without the need to pre-apply for authority to enter the other country. Although New Zealanders are granted a Special Category Visa in keeping with Australia's requirements for all non-citizens to hold visas.
References:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/jetstar-chief-calls-to-drop-passports-for-nz/story-e6frg8zx-1225891816856
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/35660/20100715/jetstar-end-immigration-checks-in-australia-nz-travels.htm
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