Aviation Under Covid Alert Level 2

'Advice on activities permitted under Alert level 2, released today, is good news for General Aviation throughout New Zealand,’ said Aviation NZ Chief Executive, John Nicholson.

General Aviation (GA), conservatively, contributes over $1b to the New Zealand economy in a year and directly leads to about $4b in economic activity.

Most of the GA industry has been grounded since the country moved to Alert Level 4. It was vitally important to get the sector going again. Even the companies that were operating saw income fall by at least 46% in March and April.

The announcements today give clarity and certainty as to what companies can do. They also provide clarity to customers. Government agencies including the Ministry of Primary Industries, Department of Conservation and Pamu New Zealand have been major users of aviation services. They all have significant environmental projects under way which, we hope, will be accelerated through Budget announcements.

Clearly the safe opening of the border is important for many in GA too, be they tourist flight operators or providers of regional aviation services. Some operators have focused on international tourism and until the border opens, the outlook is less bright for them.

‘However, aviators are resilient. We know that many of the operators previously dependent on international tourism will be assessing their options and looking at other ways to grow their businesses’, said Nicholson.

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