Kiwis and Australians stuck on the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama are on their way home.
However two New Zealanders who were meant to board the flight didn't after testing positive to coronavirus.
A Qantas charter flight organised by the Australian Government to bring both Australian and New Zealand nationals home has now left Japan and is bound for Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory.
The flight is carrying six New Zealanders and around 180 Australians and is expected to touch down in Darwin around midday New Zealand time.
Eight New Zealanders were meant to be on the flight, but two Kiwis tested positive to coronavirus in mandatory screening before boarding the flight. They are being treated in hospital in Japan.
Two other New Zealanders who were passengers on the ship were taken to hospital earlier this month after contracting coronavirus.
The cruise ship has been in quarantine in the port of Yokohama for over two weeks, with the number of cases onboard surging past 300.
Once in Darwin, the New Zealanders will be transferred back home to face another 14-day quarantine at a military base in Whangaparāoa, north of Auckland.
They will be replacing a group of 157 evacuees who had been evacuated from the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China who finished up their quarantine yesterday.
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