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Air New Zealand announces international network amendments

Air New Zealand has announced a raft of amendments to its international network due to the impact of COVID-19 on air travel.

The airline will not resume operation of its suspended Auckland-Buenos Aires and Los Angeles-London routes, as well as postponing the commencement of its non-stop Auckland-New York service. This route was slated to commence on October 29 this year but has been delayed until late 2021 at the earliest. Prior to COVID-19, Air New Zealand operated a daily service between Los Angeles and London and up to five times weekly from Auckland to Buenos Aires. Last year, Air New Zealand announced plans to exit the Los Angeles-London route in October this year and in March, the closure of its London cabin crew base was brought forward.

Air New Zealand's chief networks, strategy and alliances officer Nick Judd says demand for international travel has been tracking at about five percent of pre-COVID-19 levels into June.

?It?s deeply disappointing to be in this position. Our people have worked tenaciously over the years to build these markets and excitement was growing for our non-stop New York flight. However, the effects of COVID-19 continue to bite; we expect most countries to take a cautious approach to international travel in the next year and we have to be pragmatic," Mr Judd said. "Government travel restrictions will continue for some time and demand for our Los Angeles-London service is unlikely to recover before our planned exit in October. Argentina has been challenging before the pandemic and we don?t expect this market to recover quickly.?

Air New Zealand is currently operating a limited international network through to June 30 to keep air links open for essential travel and cargo movement on important trade routes. Demand will be reviewed on a route-by-route basis before services are resumed.

https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/covid19

Image credit: saku_y/Flickr

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