Tasmania should receive its first international flights from New Zealand for the first time in 20 years around Anzac Day, Premier Peter Gutwein says.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday afternoon announced the country would accept Australian travellers from April 19 under a trans-Tasman travel bubble.
This means there would be no requirement for travellers to the country to go into a mandatory 14-day quarantine period.
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Negotiations between New Zealand and Australia over the travel bubble have progressed over the past 12 months.
A contract was signed with Air New Zealand two weeks ago for twice-weekly flights between Hobart and Auckland.
Mr Gutwein on Tuesday said required work to facilitate international flights into Hobart airport were almost complete.
"We stand ready to take flights from around Anzac Day," he said.
"We receive somewhere around 20,000 New Zealand visitors every year that come in through other ports in this country.
"We've now got 17,000 seats available coming directly from New Zealand into Hobart."
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