More than 4000 customers took to the skies on Wednesday, thanks to the removal of border restrictions between Australia and New Zealand.
Air New Zealand moved thousands of people on their 11 near-full flights arriving from Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Perth; with the first touching down at 6am on Wednesday morning from Perth into Auckland.
"This is the first step in welcoming international visitors back to our shores and we couldn’t be more excited for both New Zealand and Air New Zealand,” says Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty.
"We’ve seen high demand across the Tasman with Aussies keen to reconnect with friends and whƒÅnau both in New Zealand and Australia.
“To help with this, last week we added an extra 96 trans-Tasman flights for April through to June, an increase of approximately 20,000 seats. We’ve also been ramping up capacity for the winter period so Aussies can enjoy our fantastic ski slopes here in New Zealand."
For a special Easter treat, customers who hop on board one of our international morning flights between April 15-25 will be treated to hot cross buns to enjoy at 32,000ft.
Travel looks a little different to what it once was so Air New Zealand is encouraging customers to complete the three steps below to make their journey as seamless as possible.
Travel Declaration
Completing travel declarations is more important than ever so make sure you check what’s required for the country you are travelling to. For Australian travel declaration requirements click here. For New Zealand travel declaration requirements click here.
Pre-departure testing
Some destinations, like New Zealand, require you to provide a negative pre-departure test before you travel. These all differ depending on where you are travelling so check the entry requirements before you fly. For Australia pre-departure testing requirements click here. For New Zealand pre-departure testing requirements click here.
Proof of vaccination
Air New Zealand requires travellers on international services to be fully vaccinated. Customers can visit the airline’s international travel requirements page for information on how to provide proof of full vaccination.
Air New Zealand is also gearing up its schedule from 11:59pm May 1, 2022, when visitors from visa waiver countries can enter Aotearoa without isolation.
