Qantas will bring forward the restart of services between Melbourne and London following the government of Victoria¡¯s decision to remove quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated Australian travellers.

From 1 November, the state of Victoria will lift quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family and parents. The state joins New South Wales in removing restrictions in line with the federal government easing border policies and lifting its outbound travel ban.

The news came as Melbourne celebrated the end of a 262-day lockdown.

In response, Qantas said it would relaunch flights from Melbourne to London on 6 November rather than its original plan of resuming in December. The route will initially operate twice a week but will ramp up to a daily service from 18 December.

In addition, the flag carrier will resume flights between Melbourne and Singapore from 22 November, initially with three services per week but increasing to daily from 18 December. Jetstar will also restart its own flights on the route for the first time since 2019.

Flights from Melbourne to Los Angeles are also due to resume on 18 December.

Qantas is also adding more than 10 return services on the Sydney-London route, which is also resuming on 1 November, due to a spike in demand following the lifting of restrictions in New South Wales.

To meet the demand from Australians wanting to travel abroad, the carrier is also returning two of its A380 aircraft to service earlier than planned and is in discussions with Boeing about accelerating the delivery of three new 787 Dreamliners that have been in storage during the pandemic.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce commented: ¡°It¡¯s great to see Melbourne reopening and the decision by the Victorian government to remove quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers will make it easier for people to take the trips they¡¯ve been longing to take. We¡¯ve immediately brought forward our flights from Melbourne to Singapore and London in response.¡±

All passengers arriving in Australia over the age of 12 must provide proof of full vaccination with an approved vaccine, as well as a negative result from a PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure. Arrivals in Victoria will also be required to take a Covid test within 24 hours of landing.