In the wake of one of the worst storms, Cyclone Gabrielle about to hit New Zealand, the airlines are bracing for impact. Air New Zealand has released advice to passengers about what the airline is doing to limit the cyclone's impact on their travel plans.
In the advisory put out by the airlines, Air New Zealand said: “"We encourage those with non-urgent travel, travelling to, from or through Auckland, Whangarei, Kerikeri, Tauranga, Hamilton and New Plymouth between Sunday 12 February and Friday 17 February to consider use of our flexibility policy.
"Customers can either hold their fare in credit for 12 months or rebook in the same class between Sunday 12 February 2023 and Wednesday 22 February 2023 without fare difference, penalty or service fees," the statement read.
The airline’s call centre is already receiving numerous calls on the cyclone's expected impact on travel and the airline has asked customers only to call if the inquiry is urgent.
The passengers whose flights are directly impacted by the cyclone will be informed via an email directly.
Leanne Geraghty, chief customer and sales officer at AirNZ, said: “At this stage, our customer care teams don't have any more detail around potential schedule changes so we ask customers to bear with us and we will be in touch once we have more information. We will continue to update our website with more information as we monitor and plan for Cyclone Gabrielle."
Auckland airport recently faced extreme flooding forcing the authorities to shut down all commercial operations at the airport. The airport is still recovering from the impact of the floods and with the news of the cyclone coming in, naturally the airport and all the airlines are prepping themselves for the worse.
As per media reports, NZ herald, Cyclone Gabrielle is now a severe category three storm and likely to pour a month’s worth of rain, about 12 inches in 24 hours and winds with the speed of 150 kilometers per hour. The authorities have declared a State of Emergency in Auckland and surrounding districts.