Travelers are back in New Zealand
By Geoffrey Thomas Tue Mar 30, 2021
After a year of talking to a computer, Kiwis are leaving the office to re-connect with their clients, suppliers, and staff says the national airline.
New figures released by Air New Zealand show that domestic business and corporate travel has defied global trends by returning to 90 per cent of pre-COVID levels.
Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said that the airline has been stunned by the swift recovery, particularly since the last alert level change.
"Our initial hopes were a return to 70 per cent next year, so to recover to near-normal levels this quickly really reinforces the strength of our domestic network and the desire of Kiwis to reconnect in person."
Ms. Geraghty said that in response to the increased demand, Air New Zealand has added more seats, more business-timed flights, and bringing on more crew.
"We've planned a schedule that enables business travel through increased frequency and connectivity, and are also regularly reviewing opportunities to add capacity, such as deploying our larger A321 aircraft on strongly booked flights,” Ms Geraghty said.
When the trans-Tasman bubble is launched, possibly later next month, the airline anticipates massive demand from Australian travelers.
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