Air New Zealand to Trim Domestic Network

‍DALLAS — New Zealand’s flag carrier, Air New Zealand (NZ), will reduce services on several routes in its domestic flight schedule. These reductions follow capacity cuts on three of NZ’s domestic routes, made earlier this year. 

The latest cuts will apply to domestic services scheduled between February and June 2025.  The airline says that the reduction in services is due to weak economic conditions. Lower demand for business and government travel has markedly impacted many of NZ’s routes.

"Like other airlines in Aotearoa, our domestic business continues to be impacted by challenging conditions, including high operating costs and soft domestic demand, particularly across corporate and government customers," Air New Zealand’s General Manager for domestic services, Scott Carr, said.

Domestic, Regional Routes

The Auckland-based (AKL) airline still needs a complete list of affected routes. It says it will announce these once they have been confirmed. 

It is believed that services between Wellington (WLG) and regional routes like Rotorua (ROT), Gisborne (GIS), and Blenheim (BHE) would see cuts.

"As a result, we've made some changes to our services in the areas where we are seeing the most impact from less flying," Carr said.

These changes will result in 2 percent fewer seats on the domestic network between February and June next year. NZ says it is responding to the domestic economy and adapting to the changing market while meeting community needs. 

The airline will assist affected customers with changes.