10 Jun 2020

Air New Zealand to resume flights to Japan in late June

5:43 pm on 10 June 2020

Air New Zealand is to resume flights to Japan at the end of the month.

Air New Sealand boeing 777-219.

Photo: 123RF

The airline says it will fly one return service a week to Narita, Tokyo, starting on 25 June.

The flight is its first scheduled international service since it shut down its long haul routes at the end of March.

Last week Japanese authorities said they would allow New Zealand business people entry without quarantine conditional on proving they are Covid-19 free.

"We're pleased to be able to welcome customers back onboard as we restart services to Narita this month, however, we know the rebuilding of our international network is going to take considerable time," Air New Zealand general manager networks Scott Carr said.

Proposals to start trans-Tasman flights put forward by an expert group are being studied by the New Zealand and Australian governments.

Earlier on Wednesday Air New Zealand announced it was refunding 15,000 customers on compassionate grounds.

The company said they were paying out around $20 million per week on refundable airfares.

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