It comes as New Zealand prepares to gradually welcome fully vaccinated citizens and international travelers. While they'll need to self-isolate, which will hamper demand recovery, they won't need a managed isolation spot - which is just as well, as they're strictly limited.

New Zealand is implementing a five-point recovery plan, which will begin on February 27th, a week after Australia will welcome back tourists. By July, international tourists from 60+ visa-waiver countries, including the UK and USA, will be able to visit. In October, New Zealand expects to revert to a normal visa system, by which time the need to self-isolate will hopefully be long gone.

Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner ZK-NZL (1)
In addition to routes resuming, various long-haul services that are already operating will see a higher number of weekly flights. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

It means a return to service

The opening up, as cautious as it is, has necessarily led to more international flights being confirmed. Not just from Auckland, but crucially also from Christchurch (whose first international route restarts on February 28th), Wellington (first arrival on March 31st and initial departure on April 1st), and Queenstown (June 24th).

Air New Zealand already has a skeleton international network to Australia and Pacific Islands and long-haul to Los Angeles, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, and Tokyo. While they are great for freight, most are strictly limited passenger-wise, given the few people who can enter.

As restrictions loosen, demand on these routes will increasingly return to normal, and Air New Zealand will add more capacity. But it'll remain subject to entry restrictions at the other end, especially problematic in Asia.

Air New Zealand's international ramp up_ mid-February to mid-September
Each column represents a week. The initial highlighted week is the first week of the Southern Hemisphere's winter season. The second is early July, a crucial month in New Zealand's reopening. Source of data: OAG.

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Routes resuming February to April

Eight routes will be reintroduced between February and April, beginning with Christchurch to Brisbane on February 28th. All but two involve Australia, with New Zealand's changing entry criteria primarily first applying to Kiwis (and permanent residents of New Zealand) located in Australia.

My personal favorite is Auckland to San Francisco, a route that took off in June 2004 using the B747-400. The flight will return on April 14th using the same flight numbers and almost the same timings as 18 years ago. Flight NZ8 will depart New Zealand at 19:50 and arrive in California at 13:05 local time the same day. Returning, NZ7 will leave San Francisco at 22:05 and arrive home on April 16th at 06:10. Passengers will be able to connect across New Zealand and Australia.

  1. February 28th: Christchurch to Brisbane, with an initial three-weekly flights
  2. March 1st: Christchurch to Sydney, three-weekly
  3. March 2nd: Auckland-Gold Coast, three-weekly
  4. March 27th: Auckland-Singapore, three-weekly
  5. March 31st: from Brisbane-Wellington (April 1st to Brisbane), three-weekly
  6. April 4th: Wellington-Melbourne, twice-weekly
  7. April 5th: Wellington-Sydney, three-weekly
  8. April 14th: Auckland-San Francisco, three-weekly
Air New Zealand's returning international network
All of these routes will resume between February and September. Image: GCMap.

Those restarting May to September

While no route will relaunch in May, a further 16 will restart between June 24th and September 30th. There's a big focus on thinner, leisure-driven sun services to Australia, including the vacation hotspots of Cairns, Sunshine Coast, and Gold Coast, and the Pacific Islands.

  1. June 24th: Queenstown-Brisbane, three-weekly
  2. June 24th: Queenstown-Melbourne, four-weekly (soon jumps to once-daily)
  3. June 25th: Queenstown-Sydney, once-daily
  4. July 2nd: Christchurch-Melbourne, once-daily
  5. July 3rd: Christchurch-Gold Coast, four-weekly
  6. July 4th: Auckland-Honolulu, once-daily
  7. July 5th: Auckland-Cairns, three-weekly
  8. July 5th: Christchurch-Nadi (Fiji), three-weekly
  9. July 5th: Wellington-Nadi (Fiji), three-weekly
  10. July 6th: Auckland-Adelaide, three-weekly
  11. July 6th: Auckland-Nouméa (New Caledonia), twice-weekly
  12. July 6th: Auckland-Papeete (Tahiti), twice-weekly
  13. July 7th: Auckland-Hobart, twice-weekly
  14. July 7th: Auckland-Houston, three-weekly
  15. July 9th: Auckland-Sunshine Coast, twice-weekly
  16. September 30th: Auckland-Chicago, three-weekly
A321_takeoff_Queenstown_ZK-NNA
New Zealanders will be keen to head for warmer Australian climes from Queenstown. Photo: @shortfinal_aviation via Wikimedia.

As July is a crucial reopening month for New Zealand, several routes already served – but minimally – will gradually return to more 'regular' service with higher frequencies. They include Auckland to Seoul, Taipei, and Tokyo.

What do you make of the changes? Let us know in the comments.