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Mercy missions operated by Air New Zealand repatriated 7,100 stranded passengers due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.
Air New Zealand’s first and most prominent Covid-19 repatriation effort was flight NZ1942 in early February from Wuhan, China, where the first coronavirus outbreak occurred.
The flight landed in Auckland with nearly 100 New Zealanders, 35 Australians and a few foreign nationals from Pacific island nations. Also on board was a 20-person team that included five pilots and 11 cabin crew, medical and engineering personnel.
It was the first time Air New Zealand had visited the port of Wuhan, the first of many new destinations the airline would visit during the year to help with repatriation missions.
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The airline also operated repatriation charter flights to Mumbai and Delhi, the first time it has visited those ports.
In April, the New Zealand government chartered three Air New Zealand B777-300s to repatriate New Zealanders stranded in India.
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An Air New Zealand 777 with evacuees from Wuhan lands at Auckland International Airport.
Those same 777-300s are now stationed in overseas desert storage facilities in hopes that one day international travel picks up and they can get back to work.
Air New Zealand operated 13 charter flights on behalf of the German government to repatriate its citizens from New Zealand to Frankfurt and carried out charter flights to Sydney and Hong Kong to connect passengers to the Netherlands.
He repatriated Korean citizens from New Zealand to Seoul and returned Samoan citizens to Apia from New Zealand and Sydney.
One of the flights from Auckland to Apia in July, Flight NZ990, operated by a 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, was carrying 300 seasonal workers from Hawke’s Bay, Blenheim, Gisborne, Martinborough and the Bay of Plenty.
Air New Zealand’s Director of Operational Integrity and Safety David Morgan said the effort to make repatriation charter flights run on short notice is testament to the professionalism and expertise of the airline’s staff.
“These charter flights were incredibly complex to organize,” Morgan said.
The teams had to evaluate new routes and airport operations, including the country’s air service rights and overflight approvals, he said.
The airline had to ensure that new destinations had aircraft and passenger handling facilities, the availability of adequate navigation aids, runway compatibility, border facilities, and availability of fuel and engineering support, he said.
“Our crew was trained in simulators to practice landing at a new airport and was well equipped to operate these very special flights.”
Air New Zealand Inflight Service Manager B787 Denise McKeown operated the charter flight to Wuhan.
She said that the airline had to turn away volunteers due to the number of crews who raised their hands to help, which showed in times of crisis, staff came together to help others.
“It was so special to see customers shed tears of joy on takeoff, knowing they were on their way to their homeland after such a stressful period.”
Charter flights provided much-needed revenue for the airline in a year in which the international travel market hit rock bottom.
At one point in the year, Air New Zealand’s capacity was reduced by 95 percent and revenue dropped as much as 90 percent due to Covid-19 restrictions.
