Air New Zealand has cancelled multiple North Island flights ahead of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan said the airline is closely monitoring the severity of the storm as it tracks towards New Zealand.
"We're doing everything we can to minimise the impact on our schedule, however our top priority at this time is the safety and wellbeing of our customers and our people," he said in a statement on Saturday afternoon.
"Part of the preparation involves making changes ahead of the expected impact of the cyclone, so we can reposition crew and move our regional turboprop aircraft to hangars or ports where they won't be at risk of high winds."
These are the schedule changes:
- All flights to or from Kerikeri and Whangarei between midday Sunday and Tuesday morning are cancelled
- Last flights into Hamilton and Tauranga on Sunday night are cancelled
- All turboprop flights to, from or through Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga from midday tomorrow through to midday Monday are cancelled
Captain Morgan warned customers should prepare for further flight cancellations, and these schedule adjustments will cause "significant flow-on effects" which may take a few days to recover.
The airline is advising those with non-urgent travel between Sunday 12 February and Friday 17 February 2023 make use of the flexibility policy. Customers can either hold their fare in credit for 12 months or rebook in the same class of travel between Sunday 12 February 2023 and Wednesday 22 February 2023 without fare difference, penalty or service fees.
- The AirNZ app is the easiest way for customers to stay up to date with flight details and changes
- Most customers can self-serve via the Manage Booking tab on the Air New Zealand website
- The contact centre is experiencing high call volumes so Air NZ asks only those with travel over the next 24 hours to contact them directly
- The airline's travel alerts page has the most up-to-date information on operating flights
- If your flight is cancelled, please do not travel to the airport - staff at the airport are unable to rebook customers
- Customers who booked through a travel agent or third-party online agent should contact them directly
- Customers eligible for a refund will be advised directly
