Air New Zealand to Require Passengers to Wear Mask or Face Covering

Air New Zealand passengers will be required to wear a mask for face covering from 31 August 2020 onwards.

The decision, which has been a requirement on all routes of most major airlines for quite some time now, follows the New Zealand government's mandate to require masks or face coverings to be worn on all public transport, including aircraft.

Air New Zealand passengers flying from Auckland have been required to wear masks while it has been at Alert Level 3 , but it was previously only a recommendation for customers travelling from other ports.

"We will now start to review our domestic network and will be contacting customers who may be affected by the extension of current Alert Levels, said Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer, Greg Foran. "We understand the impacts these disruptions cause to our customers and we'll do our best to get our customers to where they need to be."

Fare flexibility is still in place and the airline encourages those who no longer wish to fly to opt to hold their fare in credit through its online booking tool.

The airline has been operating a reduced domestic schedule to and from Auckland while it has been at Alert Level 3.

Requirements on the rest of Air New Zealand's network remains unchanged but with physical distancing in place.

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