19 Mar 2020

Air NZ shuts down London base early, suspends Buenos Aires route

10:45 am on 19 March 2020

The airline has brought forward the closure of its London cabin crew base, affecting 130 flight attendants, due to the disruption of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - DECEMBER 17: Air New Zealand Airbus A320 landing at Auckland International Airport on December 17, 2017 in Auckland

Photo: 123RF

London-based cabin crew will operate their final service on the Los Angeles to London route on 20 March.

A New Zealand-based crew will operate the remaining flight on 21 March. The LA route will then be suspended until 30 June.

It had planned to close the Los Angeles-London route in October 2020.

Air New Zealand also announced it is suspending its Buenos Aires route with immediate effect.

The move comes following the government's restrictions on travel to Argentina.

NZ31 (Buenos Aires-Auckland) departing Ministro Pistarini Airport at 11.45pm 18 March local time will be the airline's final service until 30 June 2020.

  • If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs)

Air New Zealand is encouraging customers to check the travel alerts section on its website for more information.

The airline placed itself in a trading halt on Monday to assess the Covid-19 situation further.

Customers booked via a travel agent (including online travel agents) should contact their booking agent.

Read more about the Covid-19 coronavirus:

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