Air New Zealand will resume services at Auckland Airport tomorrow after cancelling most services due to ex-Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle. With the threat now passed, 11 domestic flights have been added with more recovery efforts to come.
More than 10,000 international passengers were disrupted with Air New Zealand cancelling 509 flights leaving 6,500 to be rebooked.
Auckland jet services will begin again from mid-morning tomorrow with turboprop flights restarting from mid-afternoon.
Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty said with 10,000 of its international customers impacted by the cyclone, every available effort is being made to rebook them.
“Rebooking is well under way with around 6,500 customers left to be rebooked as of this morning. Customers are currently being rebooked onto the next available service to give them certainty they have a flight booked.”
“Because flights are very full, some customers may receive a notification saying they won’t depart for up to 20 days after their original booking.
“We want to assure those customers we now have teams working to get them on an earlier flight – it’s our top priority,” Ms Geraghty said.
According to its website, all regional turboprop flights to, from or through Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Taupo were cancelled until noon Tuesday and domestic services into, out of or through Auckland.
All Air New Zealand’s flights to and from Auckland operating to and from Australia and the Pacific Islands today were also cancelled, while some long-haul flights have also been cancelled.
Jetstar also cancelled all flights into and out of Auckland for today only.
Due to the cancellations, Air NZ and Jetstar are offering booking flexibility to those affected.
Customers can change their flights without fare difference or fees, or hold their booking as credit for 12 months.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle was forecast to bring strong winds and heavy rainfall to Auckland today and Tuesday.
The now ex-cyclone battered Norfolk Island on Sunday, downing trees and powerlines, however, it escaped the worst of the storm, now downgraded to a subtropical low-pressure system.
The latest conditions occur just two weeks after Auckland Airport experienced severe flooding due to extreme weather.
For more info, visit Auckland airport.co.nz
