News
Air New Zealand to suspend services between Australia and New Zealand for two months
September 20th 2021
Air New Zealand (Air NZ) said it will not operate any flights between Australia and New Zealand from September 25 to November 30 except for a handful of quarantine flights that have already sold out on Australia-bound services. Read More » The decision followed an announcement on Friday by the New Zealand Government that quarantine-free travel between the two countries would remain suspended for another eight weeks. Customers were sent a cancellation email and a credit for their flight and those wanting to get on the handful of quarantine flights were able to do so from today. However, seats to Australia, limited by quarantine spaces, sold out in three minutes. Air NZ chief customer officer, Leanne Geraghty, said the constraints on managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) spaces meants the airline was only offered a total of 385 seats to Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne.
“On some flights, as little as 10 seats were available,’’ Geraghty said. “Despite this, we are committed to helping people get home.
“It’s an incredibly unfortunate situation for many people who are either stuck here in New Zealand or in Australia and our heart really does go out to those customers who weren’t able to secure a spot.
“We are in constant conversations with the Australian Government around whether any additional allocations will be made available. If more space does open up, customers will be able to book through our website.”
There were still seats available on flights to New Zealand at the time of writing.
