Following the Prime Minister's announcement that New Zealand will enter COVID-19 Alert Level 4 from 11:59pm on August 17, until at least 11:59pm August 20, Air New Zealand has made a number of changes to its services.
During Alert Level 4, travel is restricted to essential services only. Customers who are travelling should check they are eligible to travel under Alert Level 4 on the Government’s COVID-19 website, as travel is severely limited.
For the next 48 hours, the airline will continue to operate its current schedule around the country to enable customers to return home to their place of residence.
Food and beverage service onboard domestic flights will be suspended in response to the latest community case and this suspension will remain in place until further notice. Water is available on request on all flights. From tonight, Air New Zealand's lounges will be closed.
Valet parking will be closed to new bookings, however will stay open for 48 hours for customers to retrieve their vehicle.
While the country is at elevated Alert Levels, Air New Zealand will be taking extra precautions to keep its staff and customers safe. Air New Zealand front line staff and cabin crew will be wearing masks and gloves, and customers are still required to wear face coverings onboard.
Air New Zealand chief executive officer Greg Foran says the airline has prepared for this scenario.
"We want to remind customers that we’ve been here before and have built capability to work through the changes. Our teams will be working hard over the next 48 hours to get Kiwis to where they need to be and we ask that customers please be patient appreciate our staff are doing their very best."
Customers throughout New Zealand with existing bookings for travel between August 17 and August 24 will be able change their booking with change fees and any fare difference waived through to August 31. Customers can do this via our online booking tool. Those who have booked through a third party will need to contact their agent.
In addition to this, customers who hold a ticket for a domestic flight scheduled to depart up until September 30 are able to opt in for credit and can do this via the airline's online booking tool.
The Air New Zealand contact centre and social media team are currently experiencing very high demand and the airline is grateful to customers for their patience while it works through these changes.
For the latest information, customers can check the Air New Zealand COVID-19 Hub and travel alerts page.
