Air NZ planning 'red' and 'green' flights to manage Covid-19 when bubbles open

Air NZ plans to classify flights as “red” or “green” to remove the risk of transit passengers infecting others with Covid-19 when a trans-Tasman bubble opens. Air New Zealand CE Greg Foran said Thursday he expected a quarantine-free trans-Tasman bubble to open in Q1 2021, as indicated by the Government. That’s despite doubt being cast over the opening date, following a recent outbreak of Covid-19 in Sydney’s northern beaches. The airline was “taking a stab” that the bubble would open in February but appreciated that date was likely to move depending on conditions at the time, he said. “We’ll adjust accordingly as things become clearer,” Foran said. He expected a New Zealand-Cook Islands bubble to also open in Q1 as indicated by the Government. The airline had been working with authorities, airports and border control to figure out logistics such as how to manage customers transiting through Australia from other countries, he said. Customers who travelled between New Zealand and Australia or New Zealand and Rarotonga were generally going to be Covid-19 free, he said. “We call those green flights,” Foran said. “When we have flights where we have transit passengers then they’re going to be red flights.”<br/>