As more and more airlines are updating the public with the fleet and capacity adjustments, I’ll continue to try and cover as much as I can. So far, we’ve seen just about all of the major carriers announce the removal of services to and from Australia as the COVID-19 virus continues to cause utter mayhem. Yesterday Air New Zealand announced that they’d be making quite a number of cutbacks and today they’ve announced all of the information for the Trans-Tasman flights.

As our next-door neighbour, Air New Zealand has an extremely strong network connecting NZ & Australia. The airline operates multiple daily services to many Australian airports but thanks to the virus, the overall Trans-Tasman capacity will be cut back by 80%.

Air New Zealand Heavily Cuts Australian Flights

Here are all of the routes that will be cancelled effective from March 30th until the 30th of June, 2020:

• The Auckland – Brisbane service will be cut down to seven weekly services. This route is operated by the 77W, 772 or A321Neo aircraft.
• The Auckland – Melbourne service will be cut down to seven weekly services. This route is operated by the 77W or 772 aircraft.
• The Auckland – Sydney service will be cut down to seven weekly return services. This route is operated by the 772 or A321Neo aircraft.
• The Christchurch – Sydney service will be cut down to twice weekly return services. This route is operated by the A320 or A321Neo aircraft.
• The Wellington – Sydney service will be cut down to twice weekly return services. This route is operated by the A320Neo aircraft.

Per Air New Zealand CEO, Greg Foran:

“We are a nimble airline with a lean cost base, strong balance sheet, good cash reserves, an outstanding brand and a team going above and beyond every day. We also have supportive partners. We are also in discussions with the Government at this time.”

As a result of the downturn in travel Air New Zealand continues to review its cost base and will need to start the process of redundancies for permanent positions acknowledging the important role partnering with unions has in this process.

“We are now accepting that for the coming months at least Air New Zealand will be a smaller airline requiring fewer resources, including people. We have deployed a range of measures, such as leave without pay and asking those with excess leave to take it, but these only go so far. We are working on redeployment opportunities for some of our staff within the airline and also to support other organisations”

(Statement from yesterday’s press release)

Here are some my other posts regarding the COVID-19 virus and airlines operating in and out of Australia:

• Qantas Announces Major Route Reductions & Lounge Closure
• Virgin Australia Will Be Making Capacity Cuts
• Qantas Announces Huge Capacity Cuts – What You Need To Know
• Virgin Atlantic Quietly Withdraws Their A340-600 Fleet
• Australia Introduces Greater Travel Restrictions
• New Zealand Announces Self-Isolation For All Travellers