Air New Zealand will extend its fare flexibility and is adjusting its domestic network after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Friday that the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Auckland has necessitated placing the region in Alert Level 3, and the rest of the country in Alert Level 2, until 11:59pm [NZST] Wednesday 26 August 2020.
From Tuesday 18 August 2020 the airline will operate a reduced domestic schedule to and from Auckland (see below).
“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,” said Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran.
“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.”
For the latest information, customers can check the Air New Zealand COVID-19 Hub and travel alerts page.