Rico Merkert, an aviation expert at The University of Sydney, said the delay to the vaccine program has thrown out the timeline for re-opening Australia’s border beyond New Zealand and made it unlikely Qantas will resume flying to anywhere else this year, unless another “bubble” was opened with Singapore.

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“I don’t expect I’m flying before the end the year, unfortunately,” Professor Merkert said.

“With Singapore there are talks about opening up a travel bubble... but anything to North America, the Middle East [or the UK] becomes less likely.”

Matthew Findlay, a director at Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting, said uncertainty and confusion around where airlines will be able to fly and when was a problem for both Qantas and anyone hoping to travel.

“The one thing travellers want and need is confidence in their booking and certainty, and if they can’t get that then they won’t book,” he said.

If major markets like the US and UK remained off limits, Mr Findlay said Qantas would look to launch more domestic routes and New Zealand services to service passengers who wanted to travel anywhere they could. Pacific Island nations were a possible addition to Australia’s travel bubble, he said.

The airline is on track to receive a major boost from the opening of a two-way “travel bubble” allowing quarantine-free travel with New Zealand from next Monday, April 19.

Qantas and its budget arm Jetstar have scheduled around 140 return flights between Australia and New Zealand from next Monday, which is more than 80 per cent of their pre-COVID capacity across the Tasman. Flights to New Zealand accounted for around 13 per cent of Qantas’ international passengers and 5 per cent of its total passengers before the pandemic.

Around 7500 Qantas international pilots, crew and other employees remain stood down while Australia’s international border remains closed. Those workers are receiving $500 a week until October as a replacement for JobKeeper, as part of a $1.2 billion aviation support package.