Air New Zealand plans a dramatic increase in domestic services to around 55 per cent of its usual domestic capacity (compared to pre-COVID-19 levels) during July and August. Since the start of Alert Level 2 the airline has been flying to the majority of the domestic ports it serviced pre-COVID-19, albeit with reduced frequencies. Its Timaru-Wellington and Taupo-Auckland routes resume this coming Monday. Air New Zealand General Manager Networks Scott Carr says the airline continues to further build its domestic schedule. “We’ve been encouraged by demand from leisure travellers recently and we’re also expecting demand for business travel to continue to build. As a result, we have been working to add more flying to our domestic schedule from next month and this includes additional services for the July school holidays. “From next month, we’ll resume our Invercargill-Auckland A320 jet service which will operate four return services a week and we’ll also resume operating our Invercargill-Wellington, Christchurch-Rotorua and Christchurch-New Plymouth routes. These routes will add further direct connections for customers travelling between the North and South Islands.” Flights will be progressively available to book over the coming days at www.airnewzealand.co.nz. Additional frequencies will continue to be reintroduced back into the schedule as demand permits. The airline will notify any affected customers in the coming days. Air New Zealand’s dedicated COVID-19 information hub is being updated continuously and customers should check this first, before calling the airline’s contact centre.