Australia trials digital arrival form with Qantas to ditch paper hassle

No more frantic searches for a pen or scrawled declarations in a cramped airplane tray—Australia is poised to bid farewell to paper arrival forms that have dogged travelers for decades. Qantas, the country’s flagship carrier, has just launched a trial that could revolutionize the passenger experience upon landing Down Under.

Revolution in the skies

Imagine settling into your seat over the Pacific, bound for Sydney. Instead of twisting in your seat to fill out a paper form on the fold-down tray, you simply open the Qantas app on your phone. A few taps later, and your declaration is finished before the wheels touch down.

Passengers can now save the QR code to their Wallet app

This once futuristic scene—the stuff of sci-fi just years ago—is fast becoming reality. Qantas, in partnership with Australia’s border agencies, is trialing a fully digital arrival declaration. Travelers can complete the form up to 72 hours before landing, all through the airline’s app.

The trial takes flight

The guinea pigs of this 2.0 journey? Around twenty lucky passengers who boarded flight QF126 from Auckland. Once they touched down at Brisbane Airport, these early adopters breezed through immigration in about two minutes—armed only with a QR code on their phone.

It was fast—maybe one or two minutes. I did it on the way to the airport.

Kathleen Gaffney, thrilled trial participant

A matter of national security—and convenience

Yet the stakes runs deeper than traveler convenience. Mike Outram, Australia’s outgoing Border Force Commissioner, pulls no punches: “It’s crazy that, in this digital age, our security still relies on a scrap of paper.”

COVID laid bare the flaws in the old system: authorities once needed up to three days to scan and process paper forms during health crises—an unacceptable lag when minutes count.

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Bye-bye, paper mountain

Every year more than 20 million paper cards stream into airports to greet international visitors. A hefty stack that full-digital adoption would slash—sparing both customs officers and forests.

The need for biosecurity is equally stark: in 2023–24 alone, authorities intercepted over 368,600 high-risk items at the border—meat, shoes, seeds, rice, herbs and spices that threaten the continent’s delicate ecosystems.

A new approach, a better chance

Australia’s not new to digital arrival trials—earlier efforts fizzled, including a AU$60 million misfire abandoned after just five months in 2022. This time the strategy shifts: Instead of building a bespoke app, border agencies are piggy-backing on Qantas’s existing infrastructure. An approach that could make the difference this time around.

Rolling out further, faster

If the trial hits the mark, expansion is next. Next week, flights from Wellington join the program, with plans to extend to all New Zealand airports serving Brisbane. With Brisbane 2032 Olympics eight years away, Australia appears determined to drag its border processes into the 21st century.

Gert-Jan de Graaff, CEO of Brisbane Airport, is eager: “We’re hopeful the trial proves a solution that works for every passenger and lets us deploy it sooner than planned.”

As Commissioner Mike Outram prepares to step down this month, this digital leap may well be his final, most enduring legacy. “I’m genuinely chuffed we’re seeing the end of that slip of paper—this is just the beginning of the end,” he says, voice brimming with satisfaction.