Air New Zealand says it is bringing eleven near-full flights into Aotearoa from Australia on Wednesday as the quarantine-free trans-Tasman travel bubble reopens.
It's the first time since July 2021 that people can travel between the two nations without having to self-isolate on arrival due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although vaccination, declaration and pre-testing requirements remain in place.
There is pent up demand for travel due to the last several months of restrictions, so Air NZ along with Qantas and Jetstar are scaling up their trans-Tasman schedules.
"Last week we added an extra 96 trans-Tasman flights for April through to June, an increase of approximately 20,000 seats," says Air NZ Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty.
"We've also been ramping up capacity for the winter period so Aussies can enjoy our fantastic ski slopes here in New Zealand."
Qantas will fly daily from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney to Auckland and Sydney to Christchurch while Jetstar will operate three weekly flights from the Gold Coast to Auckland.
Air NZ's trans-Tasman schedule is opening as follows:
Auckland
- Adelaide - July 6
- Cairns - July 5
- Hobart - July 7
- Sydney - Already operating
- Melbourne - Already operating
- Brisbane - Already operating
- Gold Coast - Already operating
- Perth - Already operating
Christchurch
- Brisbane - Already operating
- Sydney - Already operating
- Melbourne - Already operating
- Gold Coast - July 3
Wellington
- Brisbane - Already operating
- Melbourne - Already operating
- Sydney - Already operating
Queenstown
- Brisbane - June 24
- Melbourne - June 24
- Sydney - June 25
To celebrate Easter, customers on an Air NZ international morning flights between April 15 and 25 will be offered hot cross buns.
