No Air NZ flights available now

Kiwis in Australia fear they won’t be able to return home as no direct Air New Zealand flights between the countries appear to be available until the end of the month.

Air New Zealand’s website shows no available flights from Australian cities such as Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra or Sydney to Auckland until late July.

The earliest flight that appears to be available to buy tickets for online flies from Canberra to Auckland on July 27.

The confusion has left Kiwis in Australia in the dark on whether they can urgently return home or not.

One affected New Zealander told the Herald they were trying to book tickets to Auckland from Brisbane without luck.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, is due to start a new job in Auckland at the end of the month and wanted to fly home as soon as possible.

“I looked online for flights from other cities, but there’s nothing anywhere,” he said.

On Saturday, at least three flights were running services between the two cities, but now there appeared to be none, he said.

“I just don’t know what to do. I need to get home.”

He called the Air New Zealand helpline but hung up after being kept on hold for over an hour, said.

Some flights — albeit pricey ones — were listed on the Skyscanner website between the two countries. However, none of those are direct flights.

Services from Sydney to Auckland this weekend involve Air New Zealand and another airline, such as Jetstar or Qantas, with a stop in Melbourne.

The man had spoken to others online in a similar situation who said they had booked tickets on other websites, such as Skyscanner, only to have their bookings cancelled at the last minute.

Air New Zealand did not respond to a request for comment.

I looked online for flights from other cities, but there’s nothing anywhere. New Zealander returning from Australia to start new job