The travel industry will be back to some semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy by the end of the year, Flight Centre says.
But, until then, the travel agency's Kristill Loxton told Breakfast it was important to be patient.
Loxton said people should consider doing the following if their travel was disrupted:
- Figuring out options by calling someone they've booked with
- Taking travel insurance for domestic and international trips
- Booking in advance to get the most choice and reduce fare costs
She said travel in New Zealand was lagging behind other countries where things had returned to normal.
Loxton said airlines' capacity to and from New Zealand was lower than pre-Covid-19 despite demand for travel returning much faster.
That meant it was difficult to rebook travel plans, she said.
Loxton said, by the end of year, international capacity would return to about 70% of what it was pre-pandemic. For domestic travel, that figure was expected to be close to 100%.
The industry was also undergoing a major recruitment effort, but this took time, she said.
"It's front of mind for the entire travel industry… we had to let a number of people go. Some of those people have moved on into different careers or they've needed to be retrained."
Earlier this week, Air New Zealand cancelled flights because of wild weather, staff sickness and engineering issues. More flights were cancelled on Tuesday.
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