Coronavirus: Air New Zealand cancels routes, introduces new refund policy

Air New Zealand has suspended flights to Tahiti and Noumea until June 30.

The route cancellations are related to new Government restrictions to try to stop the spread of Covid-19 in New Caledonia and French Polynesia.

The airline also made a change to its refund policy and now allows anyone with an international or domestic booking between March 20 and May 31 to cancel their flight and receive credit for the full cost of an unused ticket.

The credit will be valid for 12 months and can be redeemed against any flight, with customers paying any fare difference.

The airline has also recently announced it will reduce capacity by 80 to 85 per cent on its international flights from March 30, until June 30.

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Its domestic flights are reduced by about 30 per cent.

"Many of our customers travel plans have now been impacted as a result of Covid-19 and slowing demand on travel," the airline says on its travel alerts page.

"As a result, we have had to make a significant number of cuts to our network and flight schedules.

"We also appreciate that many customers are not wanting to travel and are unsure as to when you will be ready or able to rebook."

The final Auckland-Noumea return flight departs today and the final Auckland-Tahiti flight departs on Monday.

Non-residents will no longer be allowed to enter French Polynesia and entry into New Caledonia by non-residents and foreigners is already prohibited; those in the country are asked to make arrangements to leave as soon as possible.

On Thursday, the airline suspended its Buenos Aires route effective immediately.

Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran says the airline's revenue has dropped by 85 per cent.