Air New Zealand welcomed over 4,000 customers on board as the border restrictions between Australia and New Zealand were removed. The airline has eleven near-full flights arriving from Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Perth with the first touching down from Perth into Auckland.

Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty said: “This is the first step in welcoming international visitors back to our shores and we couldn’t be more excited for both New Zealand and Air New Zealand. We’ve seen high demand across the Tasman with Aussies keen to reconnect with friends and whānau both in New Zealand and Australia.”

Last week the airline added an extra 96 trans-Tasman flights for April through to June, an increase of approximately 20,000 seats.

Air New Zealand requires travellers on international services to be fully vaccinated. Customers can visit the airline’s international travel requirements page for information on how to provide proof of full vaccination. The airline is also gearing up its schedule from 1 May 2022 when visitors from visa waiver countries can enter Aotearoa without isolation.