Coronavirus: Air NZ passenger numbers down 99% in April

The impact of Alert Level 4 on Air NZ has been revealed with passenger numbers in April down 99% on the same month in 2019. In a monthly investor update posted to the New Zealand stock exchange on Wednesday Air New Zealand said it carried just 15,000 passengers during April when the country was in lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19. That's in contrast to April 2019 when Air NZ carried 1.43m passengers. During Alert Level 4, which lasted from March 26 to April 27, travel in New Zealand was not allowed unless it was for essential work, medical reasons, because of an emergency, or to give effect to a court order, along with a few other exceptions. International travel to and from New Zealand was also severely impacted with New Zealand's borders closed to everyone except returning New Zealand citizens and residents. In late March, as New Zealand approached Alert Level 4, Air NZ reduced its network capacity by 95%. For the financial year to date, which ends on June 30, Air NZ carried 13m passengers, down 12.5% on the 14.9m passengers it carried in the same period in 2019.<br/>