(TAN): Following the New Zealand government’s announcement delaying the start of non-MIQ travel, Air New Zealand will cancel around 120 services through to the end of February. Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran said this will be tough news for many, according to a statement by the airline.
“While this news is disappointing for the airline, we know these changes are put in place to keep Aotearoa safe. We’ll now need to navigate our way through what these changes mean for our customers, as we have done over the past 23 months,” Foran said.
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The airline estimates around 120 flights will need to be cancelled, with around 27,000 customers expected to be impacted. Most of the cancelled services are across the Tasman with only a small reduction in frequency on some long-haul flights.
All existing quarantine-free flights from Australia to New Zealand between January 17 and February 28, 2022 will be cancelled and there will be a limited schedule of quarantine flights will be available to book. Customers are asked to continue to check the airline’s Travel Alerts page for further updates.
Customers who still wish to travel to New Zealand will need to secure a MIQ allocation before booking on a quarantine flight.
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The airline will continue to operate a reduced schedule from New Zealand to Australia but will be consolidating its schedule and only operating services out of Auckland.
Customers with bookings who no longer wish to travel are asked to use the airline’s online self-service tool to hold their fare in credit.