Air NZ cuts back flights

AIR New Zealand Chief Commercial Officer Cam Wallace has paid tribute to the work of the travel trade in Australia and NZ in dealing with the current situation, as the carrier announced sweeping cuts to its international network in response to the coronavirus crisis.

“We just want to thank travel agents, and say that we very much appreciate the work they are doing at the moment,” he told Travel Daily.

“This event is testing us but we’re in this together, and we’ll work our way through it.”

The airline’s shares were placed in a trading halt this morning to give it more time to fully assess the operational and financial impacts of the travel restrictions imposed in recent days.

On its long-haul network Air NZ will be reducing its capacity by 85%, operating a minimal schedule to allow Kiwis to return home and keep trade corridors with Asia and North America open.

Cutbacks include route suspensions to Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Burnos Aires, Vancouver, Tokyo, Honolulu, Denpasar and Taipei from 30 Mar through to 30 Jun.

Wallace said the airline was currently working through changes for its Tasman and Pacific networks, with details expected to be released within 48 hours.

CEO Greg Foran said that while airlines face an unprecedented challenge at present, Air NZ was better placed than most to navigate its way through it.

“We are a nimble airline with a lean cost base, strong balance sheet, good cash reserves, an outstanding brand and a team going above and beyond every day,” Foran said.

The airline is currently working through redundancies as it adapts to the capacity reductions.