Air New Zealand announces its new domestic flight schedule for alert level 2
Air New Zealand will restart flights to the majority of the country's domestic airports when the Government says it's safe to enter alert level 2, the airline has revealed. However CEO Greg Foran admits it will operate at just 20 percent of its pre-COVID-19 domestic capacity - and warns it'll be "a slow journey" to scale it back up. However several of New Zealanders' favourite destinations will be able to be flown to and from once alert level 3 restrictions lift.
The Air New Zealand routes operating at alert level 2
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***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.
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Services to Taupo, Hokitika and Timaru will return as demand allows, Foran says. The new announcement comes just moments after Air New Zealand customers were told that flights scheduled for May and June were now cancelled. This followed a report on Thursday that said our national carrier would be culling 300 pilot jobs, with the remaining 900 pilots taking a 30 percent pay cut. Foran says Air New Zealand has been keen to start domestic services "as soon as practicably possible", in an effort to support New Zealand’s economic recovery and connect family, friends and businesses. But he admits that even when the country moves out of alert level 1, all of the airline's domestic destinations will see fewer flights and reduced frequencies. "This is the harsh reality of closed international borders and a depressed domestic economy, with more Kiwis in unemployment and people watching what they spend," he says. Foran also warns Air New Zealand's fares will jump well above pre-coronavirus levels, in order to recoup some of the fares lost as a result of the Government's physical distancing protocol. One-metre social distancing means we can only sell just under 50 percent of seats on a turboprop aircraft and just 65 percent on an A320," he said. "On that basis, to ensure we cover our operating costs, we won't be able to offer our lowest lead in fares until social-distancing measures are removed."
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Poll: Should the government levy industries that contribute to financial hardship?
As reported in the Post, there’s a $30 million funding gap in financial mentoring. This has led to services closing and mentors stepping in unpaid just to keep helping people in need 🪙💰🪙
One proposed solution? Small levies on industries that profit from financial hardship — like banks, casinos, and similar companies.
So we want to hear what you think:
Should the government ask these industries to contribute?
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58.9% Yes, supporting people is important!
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26.1% No, individuals should take responsibility
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15% ... It is complicated
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Even Australians get it - so why not Kiwis???
“Ten years ago, if a heatwave as intense as last week’s record-breaker had hit the east coast, Australia’s power supply may well have buckled. But this time, the system largely operated as we needed, despite some outages.
On Australia’s main grid last quarter, renewables and energy storage contributed more than 50% of supplied electricity for the first time, while wholesale power prices were more than 40% lower than a year earlier.
[…] shifting demand from gas and coal for power and petrol for cars is likely to deliver significantly lower energy bills for households.
Last quarter, wind generation was up almost 30%, grid solar 15% and grid-scale batteries almost tripled their output. Gas generation fell 27% to its lowest level for a quarter century, while coal fell 4.6% to its lowest quarterly level ever.
Gas has long been the most expensive way to produce power. Gas peaking plants tend to fire up only when supply struggles to meet demand and power prices soar. Less demand for gas has flowed through to lower wholesale prices.”
Full article: www.theguardian.com...
If even Australians see the benefit of solar - then why is NZ actively boycotting solar uptake? The increased line rental for electricity was done to make solar less competitive and prevent cost per kWh to rise even more than it did - and electricity costs are expected to rise even more. Especially as National favours gas - which is the most expensive form of generating electricity. Which in turn will accelerate Climate Change, as if New Zealand didn’t have enough problems with droughts, floods, slips, etc. already.
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