Air New Zealand has announced plans to resume its domestic and international flights from mid-morning on February 14, following the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle. According to current weather predictions for Auckland Airport, jet operations will resume from mid-morning while turboprop operations will begin from mid-afternoon. This follows the cancellation of 509 flights by the airline, which is now focused on rebooking its 10,000 international customers as soon as possible, with 6,500 left to be rebooked as of February 13.
The airline has added 11 domestic services to its schedule as well as converted six services to a larger aircraft. It also intends to add more flights over the coming days as it seeks to get its disrupted customers back into the skies as quickly as possible. Air New Zealand’s Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty said that the airline is working to add capacity to bring customers home as fast as it can, with teams working to get customers on an earlier flight as a top priority.
Geraghty added that as the flights are already full, some customers may receive a notification saying they won’t depart for up to 20 days after their original booking. However, the airline is working to rebook these customers onto the next available service to give them certainty that they have a flight booked. In addition, larger aircraft will be added to routes, and additional services will be added where possible into the ports that are affected the most by the cyclone.
Air New Zealand’s service from New York is set to take off from Rarotonga on February 14, carrying customers who couldn’t leave in the Cook Islands due to the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on the airline’s operations. Meanwhile, 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.
The airline will continue to monitor weather forecasts as Cyclone Gabrielle moves down the country, and will update its plans as necessary. Air New Zealand is focused on managing the impact of the cyclone on its customers and is doing everything it can to get them to their destinations safely and as quickly as possible. Customers can visit the airline’s Travel Alerts page for the latest information on operating flights.
Written by: William Trevan
