Australia-New Zealand travel bubble launches with lopsided demand

FILE PHOTO: A passenger arrives from New Zealand after the Trans-Tasman travel bubble opened overnight, following an extended border closure due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia, October 16, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A testing and quarantine free travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand launched with lopsided demand, according to airlines and data firms, with an unusually high number of the travellers departing from Australia.

The initial results from Asia's first restriction-free travel bubble since the pandemic hit, which opened on Monday, showed that travel patterns can depart from their norms after such a long closure and may take time to return to normal.