Air New Zealand provides update on significant flight disruptions
Air New Zealand Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer Captain David Morgan says the airline's domestic flights in and out of Auckland resumed from 12pm today as Auckland Airport re-opens.
"As the airline works to process the backlog of customers and flights, the priority is to get our domestic customers who need to travel urgently to where they need to go. Customers needing to travel can rebook online or via the Air NZ app. Those who don't have urgent travel are being encouraged to make full use of our flexibility policies," says Captain Morgan.
While Auckland Airport is scheduled to open its international terminal from 5pm today, Air New Zealand advises there is still a lot of work to do assess whether flying its scheduled departures tonight is possible.
"International flights in and out of Auckland are more complex than domestic, with many parts of the aviation ecosystem needing to be ready as well. This includes airport security, systems to ticket and process customers, and biosecurity and baggage operations."
An update on the airline's international flights will be made later today.
"The flooding has had a huge impact our Auckland operations. We're working on getting customers to their final destinations and getting our crew and aircraft back in the right place. It might take a few days to get everything back on track, and we thank our customers in advance for their patience and understanding during this challenging time.
"We're doing everything in our power to minimise the impact on our customers and get everyone to their destinations as quickly and safely as possible.
"Our top priority at this time is the safety and wellbeing of our customers and hardworking employees. We're working closely with airport authorities and other agencies to manage the situation and keep everyone informed of the latest developments."
Advice to customers
"We understand that many of our customers have been affected by this emergency and we want to assure them that we're here to help," says Captain Morgan.
The airline is advising those with non-urgent travel between now and Monday 30th January 2023 to make use of the flexibility policy. Customer can either hold their fare in credit or rebook in the same class of travel between Saturday 28th January 2023 and Monday 6th February 2023 without fare difference, penalty or service fees.
Customers can easily opt into credit via the Air New Zealand app or website in the Manage Booking tab, by selecting Request a Credit. They can also use the app or website to change their flights to another date and have their change fee waived, though a fare difference may apply.
Advice for customers booked to travel:
- The Air New Zealand app is the easiest way for customers to stay up to date with flight details and changes
- Most customers are able to self-serve via the Manage Booking tab on the Air New Zealand website
- We will endeavour to notify and rebook customers to the next best alternative over the next 48 hours
- As the contact centre is experiencing extremely high volumes of calls we ask that only those with travel over the next 24 hours contact us directly.
- The airline's travel alerts page has the most up to date information on operating flights - our contact centre team do not have any more information than this
- If you are travelling out of Auckland, please do not travel to the airport until you receive an update that your flight is going ahead
Customers who booked through a travel agent or third-party online agent should contact them directly about making changes to their bookings or credit validity.
Note to media: Air New Zealand is focused on managing these impacts for our customers and we're not able to provide specific flight or individual customer details, or impacted customer numbers at this time.
Ends
Issued by Air New Zealand Communications.
Email: media@airnz.co.nz │Phone: +64 21 747 320│Twitter: @AirNZMedia
About Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand's story started in 1940, first taking to the skies between Auckland and Sydney on a flying boat - a Short S30. Known for its warm Kiwi hospitality, today, the airline has 98 operating aircraft ranging from Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and Airbus A320s to ATRs and Q300s, offering customers comfort in the latest most efficient jets and turboprops. It's a modern fuel-efficient fleet with an average age of 6.7 years. Air New Zealand's global network of passenger and cargo services centres around New Zealand. Pre-Covid, the airline flew more than 17 million passengers every year, with 3,400 flights per week. Air New Zealand was recently named the World's Safest Airline by the Australian rating service AirlineRatings.com, highlighting the airline's laser-focus on safety. This year, Air New Zealand won Best Corporate Reputation in New Zealand – 8th year in a row.
Air New Zealand has a well-connected domestic business, connecting customers and cargo to 20 different regions around New Zealand. Internationally, the airline has direct flights to major cities across Australia, Asia, the Pacific Islands and the US, and through its strong relationships with alliance partners, offers customers more choice and convenience to connect further afield to hundreds of destinations. Air New Zealand has a particular focus on sustainability and its Sustainability Framework helps guide the airline's efforts in tackling some of New Zealand's and the world's most complex challenges. Airpoints, Air New Zealand's loyalty programme, is seen as the most valuable loyalty programme in New Zealand with 3.5 million members. It allows members to earn Airpoints Dollars™ and Status Points for VIP benefits in the air and on the ground. Air New Zealand aircraft are proudly identified by its distinct tail livery of the Mangōpare, the Māori symbol of the hammerhead shark which represents strength, tenacity, and resilience.
About Star Alliance
Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United. Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 18,500 daily flights to 1,321 airports in 193 countries.