In line with the New Zealand Government’s release of MIQ rooms at 6pm (NZDT) on Tuesday 28 September, Air New Zealand has added 31 ‘red’ flights to its schedule in December for customers wanting to return from Australia before 31 December.
Air New Zealand’s ‘red’ (quarantine) flights will sit alongside the current ‘green’ (quarantine free) flights available in the booking system and will be labelled accordingly.
The airline’s ‘red’ services flight numbers will start with NZ8, the ‘green’ services will start with NZ1.
As quarantine-free travel with Australia is paused up until the end of November, the airline still has green (quarantine-free) flights available to book from December.
However, these flights will be cancelled if the quarantine-free travel pause is extended.
If customers currently booked on a green flight wish to transfer their booking to a red flight, the airline recommends they go online to put their flight into credit and then use the credit to rebook onto a red service.
The red flights from Australia to New Zealand are available to book now.
Customers will have 48 hours following securing a MIQ room to book their flights.
Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says so long as there are MIQ spaces available in New Zealand, the airline will continue to operate flights to reconnect customers with their friends and whānau.
“We understand this continues to be a very distressing time for people trying to get home. We’re committed to doing everything we can to get customers back to where they need to be as safely and quickly as possible.
“There are plenty of seats available so we are confident that if customers secure an MIQ space they will be able to book onto one of our red flights.
“As we head toward Christmas and summer holidays we are looking forward to reconnecting customers with their loved ones in Aotearoa.”
December red flight schedule:
| Flight | Route | Day | Departure time | Dates | |||||
| NZ840 | BNE AKL |
Sat | 11:40am | 11 Dec, 25 Dec | |||||
| NZ846 | BNE AKL |
Tue + Sat | 3:40pm | 4 Dec, 7 Dec, 14 Dec, 18 Dec, 21 Dec, 28 Dec | |||||
| NZ864 | SYD AKL |
Fri | 12:45pm | 3 Dec, 10 Dec, 17 Dec, 24 Dec, 31 Dec | |||||
| NZ862 | SYD AKL |
Mon + Thu | 2:45pm | 2-30 Dec | |||||
| NZ886 | MEL AKL |
Wed + Sun | 12:20pm | 1-29 Dec |
The next MIQ room release will take place on Tuesday 28 September 6pm (NZDT) for approximately 3,800 rooms across Oct, Nov and Dec.
The lobby will open at 5pm (NZDT).
Click here for more information.
