Air New Zealand has resumed quarantine-free flights to Sydney and Melbourne following an update from the Australian Government, however, the quarantine-free flights to Brisbane remain suspended until 20 March at the request of the Queensland Government.
Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says the airline is operating three Auckland-Sydney services and two Auckland-Melbourne services to enable customers impacted by the travel suspension to get to where they need to go.
“We’ll also be resuming flights between Sydney and Norfolk Island from 19 March. Because aircrew are currently unable to operate domestic services in Queensland without completing a 14 day quarantine period, this will impact our ability to operate between Brisbane and Norfolk Island while the restrictions on Queensland travel remain in place.”
“We are pleased to be able to connect our customers with these Australian destinations once again and look forward to resuming quarantine-free flights to Brisbane in due course.”
Customers travelling to Melbourne are required by the Victoria State Government to apply for a Victoria Travel Permit prior to check-in. Those commencing their air travel in Auckland and travelling to Melbourne or Sydney are required to carry out a COVID-19 test within 72 hours after their arrival and remain in self-isolation until a negative test result is received.
Air New Zealand has contacted customers whose booking is affected by these changes. Customers who booked via a travel agent (including online travel agents) will be contacted by their booking agent.
Customers planning to travel interstate beyond New South Wales or Victoria will need to ensure they have checked state and territory travel restrictions and have the appropriate exemptions/approvals to travel as these continue to change.
Flights to Niue
Flights from Niue to New Zealand are on sale now following the announcement of a one-way quarantine-free travel route from Niue to New Zealand.
Air New Zealand will operate one return passenger service every two weeks on a Wednesday (NZT) using the airline’s A320 fleet with the first flight arriving into Auckland on 24 March at 7:30pm.
“This quarantine free travel option from Niue to New Zealand is another great step forward on the journey to safe travel between New Zealand and the Pacific Islands,” Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran said.
Returning Niuean citizens and residents will be required to quarantine on arrival into Niue. Customers travelling from Niue to New Zealand will be required to wear masks inflight and will arrive at Auckland Airport into a designated area separated from passengers arriving on quarantine flights.
More information can be found on Air New Zealand’s Travel Alert page.
