It’s far away, but the return to international travel took another step this weekend with the very first bubble flight from Australia taking off bound for New Zealand.
Bags packed, boarding passes scanned and customers on board the NZ246 departed Sydney with a full load of excited customers ready to reunite with friends and whānau.
This service is one of almost 500 flights the airline is operating across its international and domestic networks yesterday, April 18.
Air New Zealand Short Haul Inflight Service Manager Craig Suckling says the feeling at Sydney airport Sunday morning was electric.
“It was quite the emotional rollercoaster here in Sydney. The check-in area was a hive of activity and at the boarding gate, customers were eager to get on. Put it this way, we certainly weren’t calling customers for a final boarding call!”
“For over 400 days, New Zealanders have needed to isolate on return to Aotearoa. Now, both Kiwis and Aussies can enter freely so this is an incredibly emotional day. Our flights into New Zealand from Australia are at 97% capacity today so you can picture what the airports look like!
