Covid 19 coronavirus: First transtasman flight from Australia to Auckland delayed

The first flight due to arrive in Auckland as part of the new transtasman travel bubble has been delayed by passenger paperwork problems.

The long-awaited two-way travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia officially began this morning after more than a year of closed borders.

About 400 quarantine-free flights a week will arrive and depart Auckland Airport on transtasman routes operated by Air New Zealand, Jetstar and Qantas by the end of April - a stark contrast to the 36 flights to and from Australia in the first week of April.

First scheduled arrival in Auckland, Jetstar's JQ201, was due at 11.20am.

This has now been rescheduled to 12.33pm.

A Jetstar spokesperson said the main reason for today's delay was that some passengers hadn't completed necessary travel documentation required by the New Zealand Government.

It included details covering the estimated time of arrival and health travel declaration taking staff "some extra time" to help them through the new process.

The spokesperson said while passengers were told about the new process before boarding, the airline was working with the government to make sure there were lots of messages to remind passengers of the necessary documentation.

Sydney International Airport's departure board states the flight was originally scheduled to depart at 6.15am, but didn't actually leave until 7.17am.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Breakfast this morning she was looking forward to seeing family and friends reunited as the transtasman bubble began.

Today 2000 New Zealanders would head offshore and 3000 would arrive in the country. "That's really positive for us as we really want the inward flow to stimulate the economy," Ardern said.

From July to September New Zealand is expecting an influx of Aussies arriving in the South Island for skiing and expected Australian tourism to be back to 80 per cent by the beginning of 2022.

Ardern thanked Kiwis for following the rules and making the "unique" arrangement between Australia and New Zealand possible.

As confidence in the bubble grows, experts believe Australian travellers could shoot at least $1 billion into the national economy - a godsend for struggling local businesses hit by the global pandemic and 12-month border closure.

While New Zealand was still focused in further opening up quarantine-free travel to the Cook Islands in May, Ardern said there were ways to mitigate and concerns New Zealand had if, for example, Australia opened up its bubble to higher-risk countries like Singapore.