Since the break-out of COVID19, word’s major airlines had to make a significant changes to the restrictions on the number of aircrafts being allowed to carry domestic and international travel.

Qantas released the following statement on International Flights

“All scheduled international flights, except for flights between Australia and New Zealand, are suspended until at least the end of October 2020, due to government restrictions. All scheduled flights between Australia and New Zealand are suspended until at least mid-August 2020”

In terms if international flight outlook, Qantas advised passengers that “[Qantas] be contacting customers impacted by these changes directly. Due to high demand, calls will be prioritised by travel date and due to the volume of changes, we ask for you to wait to be contacted unless your travel is imminent.

Because the situation is constantly evolving and may change rapidly, we haven't made a decision to cancel international flights after October 2020. If we decide to cancel your flight, we’ll contact you as soon as possible in relation to your options, including a refund. You don’t need to do anything and you won’t be charged any cancellation fees.

Additional service will continue to operate during this time on as needed basis at the request from the Federal Government.

To show the drastic impact on flying figures, ABC.net.au published some interesting statistics on the number of aircrafts currently operating in around Australia.

“Sydney Airport — the busiest airport in the country — would normally see about 440 flights a day, but in April, that dropped to around 50.”

The aviation expert said it could be up to three years before demand for air travel returned to pre-pandemic levels.

"The industry in Australia should recover more quickly than the international industry," Professor Bamber said.

At present, anyone who wishes depart and come back to Australia including permanent residents and citizens as well as temporary residents will need to seek and have their travel exemption approved before departing to entering Australia.

More information on travel exemptions could be found here:

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/departmental-forms/online-forms/covid19-enquiry-form