South Australia will ease travel restrictions for Canberrans from midnight tonight (15 September), waiving the mandatory 14-day quarantine period upon arrival, although restrictions on NSW residents will remain.
ACT residents wishing to enter the state cannot drive through NSW and must fly directly from Canberra.
Canberrans must also fill out an online pre-approval and declare that they have not been to NSW or Victoria in the 14 days before arrival.
SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the SA-NSW border could open if NSW went 14-days with no COVID-19 community transmissions.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he had invited Premier Steven Marshall to pilot the domestic travel bubble, citing the ACT’s record of low COVID-19 infections.
“We will work with Canberra Airport and with the airlines to quickly establish Canberra-Adelaide flights,” Mr Barr said.
If the pilot is a success, a travel bubble could also be expanded to include Darwin, Brisbane and Hobart, Mr Barr added.
The news came a day after Singapore Airlines pulled the plug on its Canberra service due to the downturn caused by the pandemic and international travel restrictions.
The next direct flight to Adelaide leaves Canberra on Thursday evening.