Physical distancing: Air New Zealand says 50,000 fewer seats during school holidays

Desperate tourism hotspots are calling on the government to relax the airlines’ physical distancing rules as school holidays approach.

Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult says the region is “in dire financial straits” and is in dire need of visitors.

He “strongly urged” the government to reconsider the airline’s distancing requirements, saying that if left unchecked, they would have a “seriously detrimental effect” on visitor numbers during the looming school holidays.

Under the current alert level, the residents of Aucklanders can – and are willing – to travel, with huge crowds at the city’s national terminal less than 12 hours after restrictions were relaxed last month.

With international flights suspended indefinitely, New Zealanders have been urged to spend their next vacation exploring Aotearoa.

“My message to Kiwis is: come and experience your own backyard and come and experience the culture and hospitality here in Aotearoa,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in May.

But expensive flights due to physical distance restrictions are reducing Aucklandns’ prospects for a weekend getaway, and Boult is calling for a rethinking of the “excessive” rules.

Under current restrictions, Air New Zealand can only sell 50 percent of turboprop seats and 65 percent of A320s and has lowered many of its initial rates.

Current physical distancing rules will reduce the number of available seats by 50,000 during school holidays, the airline says.

Boult said he understood the need to protect kiwis from Covid-19.

“However, given the mask requirement, I think the social distancing rules on aircraft are excessive. We are in dire financial straits and the district needs the additional travelers that would bring a relaxation of the distancing requirements.

“We are aware of the current unmet demand from potential visitors to the district, which is frustrating given the position local businesses are in.”

The current alert levels are scheduled to remain in place until at least 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, September 16. Holidays start 10 days later.

Air New Zealand says current physical distance requirements mean fewer Kiwis can board a plane for their next vacation, and those can pay a higher price.

“For example, if you were in place during school holidays, there would be around 50,000 Kiwis whose vacation plans could be disrupted,” said the airline’s general manager for commercial and offshore regions Michael Williams.

“Once the physical distancing is removed, we hope to open thousands of seats at lower prices.”

Rival airline Jetstar has halted domestic flights altogether, after briefly reestablishing 90 percent of its aircraft routes, until the second wave of restrictions was imposed in mid-August.

“As a low-cost airline, Jetstar cannot continue its operations in New Zealand as long as there is a requirement that airlines keep the middle seat free,” the airline said last month.

“The limitations in the number of customers allowed on board our aircraft make the operations of our flights unviable.”

Epidemiologists Professor Michael Baker and Associate Professor Nick Wilson agree that wearing masks should be enough to fly safely.

“Masks on airplanes are probably much more important than the empty seat between people and it is a reasonable trade-off to allow airlines to run more efficiently,” Wilson said.

Tourism industry Aotearoa is also pushing for restrictions to be relaxed, as CEO Chris Roberts warns that vacations could be a missed opportunity for the struggling tourism industry.

“People want to make their arrangements for school vacations now. New Zealand could be back at level 1 in time for the holidays, but it will be too late for many families to make plans,” he said.

“As we saw in the school holidays in July, there is great enthusiasm on the part of Kiwis to explore their country and visit friends and family. However, many people’s travel plans can be thwarted by current physical distance requirements. on airplanes, “he said.

“If social distancing is maintained, there simply won’t be enough seats to meet demand during school holidays. If people can’t fly, other businesses, from lodging providers to visitor attractions to restaurants, will also be lost.”

But Baker and Wilson cautioned that the increasing amount of Covid-19 in Auckland could diminish an already small window of travel opportunities.

As part of a revised alert level system, travel should be prohibited outside of any region where there is a designated outbreak (like Auckland now) at level 2.5 and inter-island travel from an outbreak area at level 2, they said.

Baker said his proposal was a mix of travel.

“All of New Zealand outside of Auckland could move to a new alert level 1.5 with fewer restrictions if people were not allowed to leave Auckland while we have broadcast there.”