The New Zealand government has put the brakes on all states and territories in Australia, pausing the travel bubble for 72 hours until midnight on Tuesday 29 June 2021. The resumption of travel between the two countries is dependent on the containment of the various outbreaks currently being managed in various states. New Zealand had already paused travel with NSW.
Air New Zealand has adjusted its trans-Tasman schedule as a result of the 72-hour pause.
All passenger flights from Australia to New Zealand have been cancelled up until 11:59pm on Tuesday 29 June. A reduced number of passenger flights will continue to operate to Australia, ensuring customers currently visiting New Zealand from Australia can return home. The airline is seeing a large volume of customers cancelling travel to Australia in the next few days, and due to this reduced demand will be rerouting customers booked to travel from Queenstown, Christchurch or Wellington via Auckland for services across the Tasman.
The cancellation of inbound services to New Zealand from Australia will unfortunately result in the postponement of Air New Zealand’s inaugural Auckland-Cairns and Auckland-Sunshine Coast services, which were due to relaunch from Monday 28 June and Tuesday 29 June respectively.
The airline is contacting affected customers with the option to rebook, put their flight into credit, or receive a refund if they purchased a refundable ticket. The customer care teams are fielding a large number of calls and customers are encouraged to hold off calling unless their travel is urgent. Customers can also go online to change their flight to a new date or hold the fare in credit to use at a later date.
Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says the airline understands how challenging these disruptions are for customers.
“This is a fluid and uncertain time as Governments on both sides of the Tasman work to keep their communities safe. We feel for all of our customers, many of whom have already been waiting a long time to reunite with family and friends. We appreciate our customers’ understanding and patience as our teams work to ensure they are kept up to date.”
