Upcoming Adjustments To Air New Zealand Domestic Network

The airline is today announcing some minor changes to its domestic and regional schedule as part of its regular network review process. The changes will be applied between February and June 2025.

Air New Zealand constantly reviews its network to ensure it is responding to market dynamics. Domestic flying continues to be impacted by softer demand, particularly across corporate and government customers, and at the same time, operating costs continue to rise. This environment has led to today’s announcement to make some small changes in the areas most impacted by less flying.

Air New Zealand General Manager Domestic, Scott Carr notes that the airline has been responding to the domestic economy for a number of months now and today’s changes are a continuation of the airline’s ability to adapt to the changing market while still meeting the needs of the communities the airline serves.

“Like other airlines in Aotearoa, our domestic business continues to be impacted by challenging conditions, including high operating costs and soft domestic demand, particularly across corporate and government customers. As a result, we’ve made some changes to our services in the areas where we are seeing the most impact from less flying. We understand these changes will affect some of our customers' upcoming travel plans and as always, we’ll work with everyone impacted to rebook their travel.

“These reductions not only allow us to more appropriately respond to the level of demand we are experiencing, but they also give the airline a small amount of resilience to improve recovery options in the event of a flight disruption on our regional network. We will continue to monitor domestic demand and will review the schedule from July onwards closer to the time.”

The changes to the schedule will be made on Monday 9 December 2024 and will result in 2% fewer seats on the domestic network over a short four-month period.

Customers with flights on these routes between February and June 2025 will be contacted directly with alternative options if their flight has been impacted. Customers do not need to contact Air New Zealand proactively.

About Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand’s story started in 1940, first taking to the skies between Auckland and Sydney on a flying boat - a Short S30. Known for its warm Kiwi hospitality, today, the airline has operating aircraft ranging from Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and Airbus A320s to ATRs and Q300s, offering customers comfort in the latest most efficient jets and turboprops. It’s a modern fuel-efficient fleet with an average age of 8.7 years. Air New Zealand’s global network of passenger and cargo services centres around New Zealand. In 2023, the airline flew more than 16 million passengers. Air New Zealand was named 2024 World's Safest Airline by the Australian rating service AirlineRatings.com, highlighting the airline’s laser-focus on safety and won Best Corporate Reputation in New Zealand in 2023 – the 9th year in a row.

Air New Zealand has a well-connected domestic business, connecting customers and cargo to 20 different regions around New Zealand. Internationally, the airline has direct flights to major cities across Australia, Asia, the Pacific Islands and the US, and through its strong relationships with alliance partners, offers customers more choice and convenience to connect further afield to hundreds of destinations. Air New Zealand has a particular focus on sustainability and its Sustainability Frameworkhelps guide the airline’s efforts in tackling some of New Zealand's and the world's most complex challenges. Airpoints, Air New Zealand’s loyalty programme, is seen as the most valuable loyalty programme in New Zealand with more than 4 million members. It allows members to earn AirpointsDollars™ and Status Points for VIP benefits in the air and on the ground. Air New Zealand aircraft are proudly identified by its distinct tail livery of the Mangōpare, the Māori symbol of the hammerhead shark which represents strength, tenacity, and resilience.

About Star Alliance

Established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance, the Star Alliance network was founded on a customer value proposition of global reach, worldwide recognition, and seamless service. Since its inception, it has offered the largest and most comprehensive airline network, with a strong emphasis on enhancing the customer experience throughout the entire Alliance journey.

The member airlines are: Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Air Portugal, THAI, Turkish Airlines, and United.

Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers 17,500 daily flights to over 1,150 airports in 189 countries. Further connecting flights are offered by Star Alliance Connecting Partner Juneyao Airlines.

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