Air New Zealand Update On Flexibility And Domestic Schedule

Air New Zealand is extending its fare flexibility and adjusting its domestic network after the Prime Minister’s announcement this evening that the Auckland region will remain in Alert Level 3 and the rest of the country in Alert Level 2 until 11:59pm Wednesday 26 August.

The airline will endeavour to operate its current schedule as planned throughout the weekend and on Monday 17 August to allow people seeking to return home to do so. From Tuesday 18 August it will operate a reduced domestic schedule to and from Auckland.

The airline’s domestic network for Auckland during Level 3 will be as follows from Tuesday (the remainder of the network is unchanged) –

Auckland to/from:

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran says the airline has seen significantly reduced demand in recent days.

“While there will be a reduction in flying to and from Auckland, there will be some flights available to support essential travel. The rest of our domestic network will operate as normal under Alert Level 2 – with physical distancing in place, and we are updating our schedule to reflect this.

“We’ve seen many Kiwis choose to no longer travel over the past few days and we’d like to thank those who have cancelled or changed their tickets in advance as this has helped us to get other customers home.

“We are also extending fare flexibility introduced on Wednesday up until 11:59pm Thursday 27 August. Customers who hold a ticket for a domestic flight up until this date may opt to hold their fare in credit and can do this via the airline’s online booking tool.

“Our contact centre and social media team are here to help, however, they are currently experiencing very high demand. We’d like to thank our customers for their patience while we work through these changes. Our customers have also been really cooperative when it comes to wearing masks on board and we thank them for this.”

The airline already has a number of safety measures in place to keep customers and staff safe. These include:

• Customers on flights departing Auckland are required to wear masks. They are welcome to bring their own, or these will be provided by the airline. It is also recommended customers travelling from other ports wear masks, however this is not a requirement
• Air New Zealand Auckland-based front of house employees and domestic cabin crew will wear masks and gloves, and pilots will wear masks when interacting with customers or moving through Auckland Airport
• Customers are encouraged to check in for their flight via the Air New Zealand app, and allow extra time to process through check-in and security
• For those checking in at larger airports, every second self-service kiosk will be operating to support social distancing. There will also be floor markers for queuing at check-in counters, service desks, bag drops and departure gates, and fewer customers will be boarded and disembarked at a time
• Inflight, seating will be allocated to allow an empty seat between customers travelling alone. The airline will aim to keep families and some travelling companions together, so there may be some people sitting together with no additional space between them
• Food and beverage services on all domestic flights will not be available to minimise contact between customers and cabin crew. Customers should let cabin crew know if they would like a cup of water
• Air New Zealand’s Auckland lounges and valet parking remain closed

For the latest information, customers can check the Air New Zealand Covid-19 Hub and travel alerts page.

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