Changes are coming for Air New Zealand customers in light of the recent move to Orange.
From today, April 14, customers will no longer be required to show proof of vaccination or negative test to fly around Aotearoa, and from May 1, 2022, it will remove its ‘no jab, no fly’ vaccination policy for international customers.
And for peckish travellers, the airline will also begin to welcome back its much-loved food and beverage offering on domestic flights from Friday April 15.
Masks will still be required onboard under the orange traffic light setting for customers and employees.
Air New Zealand chief executive officer Greg Foran says as New Zealand has seen a drop in transmission and is overall, a highly vaccinated population, removing some of the requirements makes sense.
"As Omicron took hold in the community, we put in place several temporary measures aimed at keeping our employees, customers and New Zealand safe. After a careful risk assessment, we feel now is the right time to step back some of those measures.
"New Zealand is moving back towards a sense of normality. We’re seeing customers return to our domestic network and we’re welcoming back Australians from today. We’re aware that COVID is not behind us yet and we have taken a considered approach and will continue to revise safety measures depending on what we’re seeing here in New Zealand and around the world.
"I would like to send a heartfelt thanks to our customers for the support they’ve shown us throughout the pandemic, most notably while this requirement was in place.
"It’s terrific to finally be getting our food and beverage service back up and running again, we know it’s something our customers look forward to when they fly with us."
Air New Zealand’s Domestic Flexibility Policy is in place until April 30, meaning customers with a booking up until April 30, 2022, who no longer wish to travel can opt into credit or change their flight with no change fees.
