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Air New Zealand welcomes back Aussies with open arms (and hot cross buns)

It’s the day New Zealand has been waiting for, Air New Zealand is welcoming over 4,000 customers on board today as the border restrictions between Australia and New Zealand are removed. 

It’s the day New Zealand has been waiting for, Air New Zealand is welcoming over 4,000 customers on board today as the border restrictions between Australia and New Zealand are removed. 

Air New Zealand has eleven near-full flights arriving from Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Perth with the first touching down at 6:00am from Perth into Auckland.

Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says, “This is the first step in welcoming international visitors back to our shores and we couldn’t be more excited for both New Zealand and Air New Zealand. 

“We’ve seen high demand across the Tasman with Aussies keen to reconnect with friends and whānau both in New Zealand and Australia.

“To help with this, last week we added an extra 96 trans-Tasman flights for April through to June, an increase of approximately 20,000 seats. We’ve also been ramping up capacity for the winter period so Aussies can enjoy our fantastic ski slopes here in New Zealand.”

For a special Easter treat, customers who hop on board one of Air New Zealand’s international morning flights between 15 – 25 April will be given hot cross buns to enjoy at 32,000ft. Yum!

Air_New_Zealand
Image: Air New Zealand

Travel looks a little different from what it once was so Air New Zealand is encouraging customers to complete the three steps below to make their journey as seamless as possible. 

Travel Declaration

Completing travel declarations is more important than ever so make sure you check what’s required for the country you are travelling to. For Australian travel declaration requirements click here. For New Zealand travel declaration requirements click here.

Pre-departure testing

New Zealand requires you to provide a negative pre-departure test before you travel. For Australia pre-departure testing requirements click here. For New Zealand pre-departure testing requirements click here.

Proof of vaccination

Air New Zealand requires travellers on international services to be fully vaccinated. Customers can visit the airline’s international travel requirements page for information on how to provide proof of full vaccination.

Air New Zealand says it is also gearing up its schedule from 11:59pm 1 May 2022 when visitors from visa waiver countries can enter Aotearoa without isolation.

For more information head to www.airnewzealand.com.au