Air NZ homes in on regions

Air New Zealand plans to help New Zealanders move to the regions by doubling regional capacity, improving connectivity and offering cheaper fares.

At its annual meeting yesterday, Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran said changes had begun before Covid-19 had accelerated.

‘‘There’s the opportunity to fly new routes – and to fly more often – by scheduling at different times of the day, adapting our service to the changing nature of work,’’ Foran said.

‘‘I believe Air New Zealand can help make the life-changing decision to move out of our largest cities a success for our customers and their families – while also growing our business.’’

In August, the airline reported an after-tax loss of $289 million for the year ended on June 30, its first full year result operating in a Covid-19 environment.

Chairwoman Dame Therese Walsh said that while the domestic network had been the backbone of the company’s operations in the past financial year, passenger revenue of about $1.5 billion was just 30 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

Leisure demand was up 130 per cent in May, June and July compared with pre-Covid levels, and corporate customers were at about 90 per cent of 2019 levels.

Air New Zealand would be focused on unlocking further demand in future and making the regions more accessible, she said.

‘‘Core to unlocking this demand is increased flight frequency, better connections and reasonable fares – which is expected to eventually result in capacity increases of over 110 per cent in those markets compared to pre-Covid levels.’’

Last month, Air New Zealand said the monthly impact of an Auckland-only alert level 3 or 4 travel restriction, with the rest of New Zealand operating at level 1 or 2, was about $25m to $35m.

Walsh said the Government’s plan to have the majority of the population vaccinated by the end of the year should put the country in a strong position. Of Air New Zealand’s frontline staff, 93 per cent had received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and 88 per cent were fully vaccinated.

‘‘We are looking forward to international borders reopening and hope that if vaccination levels continue to increase, we will see some very positive developments during 2022.’’ When borders did open, demand would return and Air New Zealand would be well positioned, she said.