Australia and the Philippines have announced the reopening of their borders for all travelling passengers including Papua New Guinea.
With the announcement of reopening their borders, Australia will allow for all travelling passengers including Papua New Guinea from February 21, and the Philippines from February 10.
It is necessary that for both countries, travelers must be fully vaccinated but will not need to quarantine upon arrival, however, normal visa requirements still apply.
Direct travel services from Papua New Guinea to Cairns is still banned by the Queensland Government, until 26 March.
Passengers are required to complete a negative rapid test within 24 hours of their scheduled departure when flying into Australia, and the test can be conducted at the airport or passengers can bring a compliant certificate with them issued by a Doctor. A negative PCR test within 3 days of departure is also acceptable.
Passengers flying to Manila must either complete a negative PCR test at the airport or bring a negative and compliant PCR test certificate with them. For Philippines, the RT-PCR test needs to be completed within 48 hours of departure.
Vaccination Certificates valid for international travel includes (amongst others) the PNG International Certificate of Covid Vaccination (ICCV), the WHO yellow card, the Australian Covid-19 Digital Vaccination Certificate, and compliant certificates issued by other countries.
The PNG ICCV is available from PNG National Department of Health (NDoH) upon production of a copy of your green vaccination card and passport.
The Green Card PNG Vaccination Certificate is not valid for international travel, as details of Date of Birth or Passport Number are not included. Passengers without any licit certificate of vaccination valid for travel cannot be checked in.
Passengers travelling to Australia are required to complete a new document, the ‘Australian Travel Declaration’ (ATD), and as confirmation this includes that the passenger is fully vaccinated, and the certificate is valid.
The ATD is a mobile phone App available for download at any Apple iPhone Store for iPhone, and Google Store for Android phones that takes 15minutes to set up and it is recommended that this is downloaded and updated prior to coming to the airport. Manual paper forms will be available at check-in if required.