As New Zealand faces the fallout of Cyclone Gabrielle, its national carrier has announced that it has resumed flights from all ports.
[UPDATED 15 February 2023, 12.30pm AEST]
In a social media post this morning, the Air New Zealand said, “We’re back reconnecting our regions, and New Zealand with the world, as we resume flights from all ports”.
New Zealand’s busiest hub Auckland Airport confirmed in a tweet this morning, “Domestic and international flights have resumed but airline schedules may be disrupted for several days. Please check with your airline that your flight is operating before coming to the airport”.
It added, “Terminals may be busy as the Auckland Airport team and airlines work to get people where they need to be. Thanks for your understanding”.
Meanwhile, New Zealand travel specialists ANZCRO said its “reservations team is prioritizing passengers on the ground who are impacted by the severe weather conditions on the North Island”.
“We are working closely with local authorities and suppliers to keep up to date with new information and resolve changed travel arrangements as quickly as we can. Our thoughts are with everyone in New Zealand affected by this emergency,” ANZCRO managing director Nick Guthrey told Karryon.
Worst weather event this century: NZ PM
Earlier this week, New Zealand declared a national state of emergency for only the third time in its history – after the Christchurch earthquake in 2011 and Covid-19 pandemic – as it bears the full brunt of Cyclone Gabrielle.
According to The Guardian, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said on Tuesday that “Cyclone Gabrielle is the most significant weather event New Zealand has seen in this century”.
“The severity and the damage that we are seeing has not been experienced in a generation,” he remarked.
“We are still building a picture of the effects of the cyclone as it continues to unfold. But what we do know is the impact is significant and it is widespread.”
Across much of the country’s North Island, there have been widespread power outages, flooding, landslides and property damage, RNZ reported on Monday.
Decision on flights?
On Tuesday, Auckland Airport explained that “airlines & their pilots make the decision about whether or not to depart based on weather information they have to hand”.
“It’s possible there may be short notice flight delays/cancellations, we recommend travellers check the status of their flights prior to coming to the airport,” AKL said in a tweet.
Air NZ running “largely as normal today”
In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, Air New Zealand said its international and domestic network is “back up and running today”.
“Following the increased wind gusts yesterday afternoon, the airline was forced to halt its domestic and international operation out of Auckland resulting in a further 300 cancelled services,” it stated.
Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty said while morning operations “were a little bumpy”, the carrier was “largely back in the swing of things today and are completely focused on customer recovery”.
“We got halfway there yesterday with our restart but, as we have throughout the recent weather events, we put safety first. It’s the right thing to do – every time,” she remarked.
“To have the airline operating largely as normal today is no small feat. We had to divert nine services last night to other ports like Christchurch and Nadi, rework our schedule to allow for the planes and crew we had out of place, bring a large proportion of turboprops back out of storage and then work to rebook and look after those who have been disrupted.
“We’re ready and waiting to support the national state of emergency response and are talking to affected communities about how we can help. We’re also supporting our own people who are still badly affected by the terrible weather. We will continue to monitor the situation and support wherever we can.”
NZ is also extending flexibility for customers affected by cyclone disruptions up to 17 February 2023.
On Wednesday, the airline said it had a total of 821 cancelled flights and 49,000 impacted customers since Cyclone Gabrielle began.
Visit the airline’s Travel Alerts page for the most current information on flights.
