WELLINGTON, New Zealand — About 100,000 tourists stuck in New Zealand since it began a lockdown last week were starting to fly to their home countries Friday. The initial problem for many tourists had been that they were banned from catching domestic flights during the strict monthlong lockdown, which is aimed at preventing more coronavirus infections. The domestic flight ban prevented tourists from reaching the country's main hub of Auckland Airport to catch international flights home. But Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced Thursday that tourists could catch internal flights, so long as they were leaving the country. He said charter flights organized by foreign countries would also be allowed alongside regular commercial flights.

Source: International New York Times April 03, 2020 03:33 UTC