Air New Zealand has announced an extra seven domestic and regional routes will restart under COVID-19 alert level 2, in addition to those announced last week.
The airline unveiled the returning services on Monday afternoon shortly after the Government revealed more about the rules of level 2.
Air NZ's additional level 2 services are the following:
Auckland to/from:
- Blenheim (from June 1)
- Dunedin (from June 1)
- Rotorua (from May 25)
Christchurch to/from:
- Hamilton (from May 18)
- Hokitika (from May 25)
- Tauranga (from June 1)
Wellington to/from:
- Dunedin (from June 1)
They are in addition to the following services, which were announced on May 8:
- Auckland to/from: Christchurch, Gisborne, Kerikeri, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Tauranga, Wellington, Whangarei and Queenstown.
- Christchurch to/from: Dunedin, Invercargill, Nelson, Palmerston North, Wellington and Queenstown.
- Wellington to/from: Blenheim, Gisborne, Hamilton, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Rotorua and Tauranga.
In last week's announcement, Air NZ CEO Greg Foran said that services to Taupo, Hokitika and Timaru would return when demand allowed. Now that the airline has announced Hokitika services are returning, it would seem there's demand for that route already, but not for Taupo and Timaru.
The airline advises that its schedule for the additional routes is currently only available up to June 7.
It also says customers should look at the Government's COVID-19 website and information on the Air NZ website about health and hygiene protocols before travelling.
