Air New Zealand is adding flights and destinations to its domestic network within New Zealand from next week as the nation lowers its COVID Alert Level to 3.

The airline says it will operate a limited domestic schedule from Tuesday April 28 to enable essential travel only and to keep air freight moving.

Air New Zealand General Manager Networks, Scott Carr, says travel remains very restricted under Alert Level 3 and the airline is doing what it can to assist essential movement.

“We have made some slight adjustments to our domestic schedule in the coming weeks and that includes adding several services a week between Auckland and Napier and Auckland and Tauranga,” he says.

“We’ll also be adding additional capacity between Christchurch and Dunedin with flights in and out of Dunedin across the week.”

The airline’s domestic schedule while the country is at Alert Level 3 is as follows:
-Auckland-Christchurch: 2x daily return services from Monday-Saturday, 1x daily return service on Sundays with an Airbus A320 aircraft;
-Auckland-Wellington: 1x daily return service from Monday-Sunday with an Airbus A320 aircraft;
-Auckland-Tauranga: 3x return services per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with a Dash 8 Q300 aircraft;
-Auckland-Napier: 3x return services per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with a Dash 8 Q300 aircraft;
-Wellington-Christchurch: 2x daily return services from Monday-Friday, 1x daily return service on Sat/Sun with a Dash 8 Q300 and ATR 72 aircraft;
-Wellington-Nelson: 1x daily return service Monday-Wednesday, 2x daily return services Thursday-Friday with a Dash 8 Q300 aircraft;
-Christchurch-Dunedin: 1x daily return service from Monday-Sunday with an ATR 72 aircraft.

The airline has requested that before making a booking, customers are reminded to check the latest information on the travel and transportation section of the Government COVID-19 website and the COVID-19 hub on the Air New Zealand website.