Christmas travel plans could be tested as Covid cases rise in the community. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Christmas travel plans could be tested as Covid cases rise in the community. Photo / Brett Phibbs
With a festive wave of Covid doing the rounds and added pressures on aviation fuel, it will be a Christmas miracle to pull off a very busy schedule without any disruptions.
Despite the now familiar feeling of booking Summer travel, there have been some changes to travel planning from previous years.
For the first time since 2020 we are going into the peak travel season without the Covid flexibility policies that airlines used to navigate local lockdowns and the busiest pandemic travel.
‘No-questions-asked’ flight credit schemes may be gone but Covid case numbers are still considerable. With over 40,000 cases reported last week, Christmas travel plans could be tested numbers rise in the community.
What happens to your travel plans if you catch Covid these holidays?
Airlines and travel professionals are advising passengers to plan ahead and organise their own cover or risk being stung.
Earlier this year, during the July school holidays Air New Zealand took the unusual step of warning passengers of impending disruption. Blaming sickness among crew and operational problems, Air New Zealand temporarily resumed the ‘Covid flexibility’ scheme waiving change fees for July.
The airline says this will not be returning this Summer.
Instead passengers are encouraged to book flexible fares or independent travel insurance to cover any disruption.
“We understand unforeseen circumstances do arise, and we encourage our customers to consider booking flexi-fares to allow for these situations,” said a spokesperson for Air New Zealand.
Passengers without these fare classes will be charged a $50 change fee, plus any difference if they cannot travel.
Refunds may still be available on “compassionate grounds” for customers facing financial hardship or with medical advice specifically against travel. Otherwise catching Covid means losing your fares.
The airline says they “encourage our customers to think about purchasing travel insurance when booking flights to help in the event of a disrupt.”
Currently the government says anyone catching Covid must isolate for 7 days. Those travelling domestically should have a plan for this.
Travellers should have plans for if Covid disrupts their travel. Photo / 123RF
Last week, Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Rebecca Ingram told the Herald it was important holidaymakers put plans in place for what they would do if their travel is disrupted by Covid or other illnesses.
Jetstar’s comparable Fly Flexible scheme also ended earlier this year. Although, organised travellers who booked their domestic travel before 30 April or international before 30 June, may still be entitled to change their bookings without charge. Otherwise travellers will be charged a $60 fare change or a $50 ‘refund fee.’
A spokesperson for Jetstar said that it continued to recruit and invest in resources to support the “frontline teams” ahead of the busiest summer in recent times.
“Across our New Zealand network we’re looking forward to welcoming more than 300 thousand customers onboard our flights over the summer period, with 22 thousand flying with us in the week leading up to Christmas,” they said.
Covid travel disruptions
While travellers’ health is their own responsibility, Covid cases among airline staff has caused disruption to services this year.
On Thursday the Ministry of Health reported a rolling average of 5,138 cases of Covid-19, almost double the cases reported the previous week. Experts believed this could reach 10,000 by Christmas similar to July levels.
Despite this airlines say they are in far better shape to deal with crew sickness and disruptions than they were in winter.
“We’ve done a lot to prepare,” said a spokesperson for Air New Zealand. This includes leasing extra aircraft for routes including Auckland to Perth, “building in some much needed flexibility” for the summer schedule.
Crew numbers had also increased, having brought on 2200 new hires through the training programme.
“We’ll also have more than 300 volunteers helping out at airports around the country to make the airport experience as smooth as possible.”
However, all aircraft would be extremely full. With the added pressure of the first Summer of open borders there would be far more leisure travellers than in recent memory.
In the case of disrupts or cancelled services passengers would be entitled to compensation, but there would likely be little room to move passengers around the full schedule.
