Air New Zealand Gears Up For Quarantine Free Travel With Cook Islands

Air New Zealand is welcoming news that it can help connect Kiwis to our Cook Island neighbours quarantine-free from early next year.

On Friday night, the Cook Islands Government announced quarantine-free travel will resume between New Zealand and the Cook Islands for travel from 14 January 2022.

Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says the airline is excited to help get New Zealanders to Rarotonga for some tropical sunshine and a holiday from early next year.

“We’re really looking forward to resuming our daily flight schedule to get our customers to and from Rarotonga very soon.

“This is another exciting step towards more international travel and we can’t wait to reconnect with our island neighbours.”

To be able to travel to and from the Cook Islands quarantine-free, the Cook Islands Government requires visitors to be fully vaccinated or provide a certified medical exemption, and test negative before departure.

Customers are advised to check all the new entry and eligibility requirements for Cook Islands travel, which can be found at Air New Zealand Travel Alerts & Flight information Updates

Due to the continuation of the quarantine free travel pause, the airline is in the process of contacting customers booked to travel to Rarotonga between now and 13 January with their options for travel.

“We know that this will be very disappointing for our customers who were booked to travel over the Christmas and New Years period, but it is unsurprising given the current COVID-19 community cases in New Zealand. Health and safety are paramount, and we want to do everything we can to ensure customers, staff and our island neighbours are kept safe.”

In other positive news, from today, New Zealand citizens, residents or holders of a Critical Purpose Visa from Tonga and Samoa will also be able to come into the country without having to quarantine.

Air New Zealand will operate one flight per week from both Samoa and Tonga to Auckland, with the first quarantine-free flight departing Tonga tomorrow and Samoa from 13 November 2021.

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