New Zealand will pause its quarantine-free travel arrangement with Australia for at least eight weeks starting Friday night, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as Australia fights an outbreak of the highly infectious delta virus variant.

The “travel bubble” had already been paused for travelers to and from New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.The bubble was a rare quarantine-free arrangement in Asia and Air New Zealand and Qantas Airways have been the only operators on the route.

New Zealand will pause its quarantine-free travel arrangement with Australia for at least eight weeks starting Friday night, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as Australia fights an outbreak of the highly infectious delta virus variant.

“We’ve always said that our response would evolve as the virus evolved. This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but it is the right decision to keep New Zealanders safe,” Ardern told reporters in Auckland.

The “travel bubble” had already been paused for travelers to and from New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

The bubble was a rare quarantine-free arrangement in Asia, where countries have kept their borders mostly closed during the pandemic. Plans for a Singapore-Hong Kong bubble have been delayed several times.

Demand for flights between Australia and New Zealand has been more subdued than anticipated since the bubble opened on April 19.

Scheduled airline capacity between Australia and New Zealand this month is about 44% of 2019 levels, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, well below initial forecasts of more than 70%.

NZ and QF  have been the only operators on the route, and several pauses in the bubble because of small outbreaks dented consumer confidence.