Air New Zealand has made further reductions to its services and increases to some of its airfares in response to high fuel prices caused by the Iran war.
A spokesperson for the airline confirmed Tuesday morning that it had made "a small number of schedule changes for travel across May and June," as a result of high jet fuel costs.
"These consolidations affect around 4% of flights but only 1% of total passengers due to travel across this period," it said.
It did not provide a breakdown of the affected services.
The airline also said it had made further increases to some of its airfares due to jet fuel prices amounting to "more than double what they would usually be".
"We have worked hard to keep disruption to a minimum, with the vast majority of impacted customers still travelling on the same day."
"We remain focused on keeping New Zealanders connected and maintaining a reliable, fuel-efficient schedule."
Affected passengers would be notified from 9am Tuesday, with all notifications to be completed by the end of the week.
Previous reductions saw the airline cancel 1100 of its services and increase its flight prices, with the changes affecting around 44,000 passengers. Jetstar also cut some domestic and trans-Tasman services.
Tauranga, Nelson flights axed
MP for Bay of Plenty Tom Rutherford said Air NZ had informed him there would be "additional temporary reductions" for flights to and from Tauranga.
"For the May and June schedule they will be consolidating Auckland services by 27 rotations (averaging 4 per week), Wellington services by 30 rotations (averaging 4 per week), and Christchurch services by 10 rotations (averaging 1 per week)," Rutherford said in a Facebook post.
A rotation is a return trip.
"These changes are on top of the earlier reductions already in place from 16 March to 3 May, which were, Auckland services being reduced by 31 rotations (averaging just one daily rotation most weeks but maintaining full capacity during April school holidays). Wellington services down by 21 rotations (about three per week on average). Christchurch services reduced by 3 rotations."
Rutherford said Air NZ had assured him the decision remained a "short term-response" to the current fuel crisis.
"They are focused on re-accommodating affected passengers on flights as close as possible to their original times, mainly targeting lower-demand and off-peak services," he said.
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said Air NZ was "canning" around 140 off-peak flights to and from Nelson, calling the decision "disappointing but understandable".
In a post shared to Facebook, Smith said 70 flights to and from Wellington, 40 to and from Christchurch and 30 to and from Auckland in May and June had been cancelled.
"It represents the loss of about 8000 seats in and out of Nelson over May and June," he said.
"This will impact on the number of visitors to the region and make it more difficult for people travelling for work, health care and holidaying outside the region."
Smith said Air NZ had informed him of the reductions last week, saying residents thinking of taking a holiday in the coming weeks should instead consider local options to support Nelson's tourism sector.
"I indicated Nelson understood the airline’s predicament in the short term but would look to the full reinstatement of flights and seat capacity when fuel supplies and pricing return to normal," he said.
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