With new Omicron variants and winter flu season affecting travel plans, Air New Zealand is extending its reintroduced Covid Flexibility Policy until 31 August, offering the flexibility to opt for credit if customers can no longer travel due to illness.
The airline’s Covid Flexibility Policy allows Air NZ passengers travelling around New Zealand or overseas to cancel their travel if they are unwell and either put their booking into credit or change their flight and have the change fee waived.
The response comes due to increasing levels of COVID-19 and other winter illnesses in the community and higher-than-usual employee sickness, which has led to flight cancellations.
Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran said that last week around 57,000 customers have been in touch with the airline with many calling to change travel plans.
“It’s not just COVID, it’s the winter flu and weather disrupting plans. That’s why we’ve chosen to extend our Covid flexibility policy through to 31 August,” Mr Foran said.
“There’s no doubt it’s a challenging time for everyone – it’s been more than two years of hard mahi, and unfortunately, we’re not out of the woods yet.
“Around the world, we’re seeing the disruption continue to bite. We’ve avoided the worst of it here in Aotearoa, and most of our customers are getting to where they need to go. This extra flexibility will give customers a few more options to defer travel to sunnier times.”
Customers booked between 9– 31 August 2022 can hold the value of their fare in credit for 12 months from the time of their credit request.
Air NZ customers can easily opt into credit via the Air New Zealand app or website and also change their flights to another date and have the change fee waived, though a fare difference may apply.
Air NZ customers who booked through a travel agent or third-party online agent should contact them directly about making changes to their bookings or credit validity.
For more info, head to airnewzealand.com