Air New Zealand hints at Trans-Tasman bubble start date

Air NZ appears to have taken a punt on when the much-anticipated trans-Tasman travel bubble will open, significantly increasing its schedule on one particular Monday in April. NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is due to announce at 4pm on Tuesday, NZ time, (2pm AEST) when two-way quarantine-free travel with Australia will commence. It is the first border opening since free-flow travel was stopped just over a year ago. Air NZ has an increased schedule in its booking system from Monday, April 19. It has 23 return services between Auckland and Sydney that week, as opposed to just four return flights this current week. A further clue can be found in the aircraft it has listed to operate on the Auckland to Sydney route. The airline runs 787 Dreamliners across the Tasman, but has publicly said it has retrained staff on its A320 and A321 planes to run Tasman services. The first A321 flight gets underway on April 19. If the schedule holds true, Air NZ is clearly expecting a surge in people wanting to spend a weekend in Sydney – the first Friday of its expanded schedule has five flights to Sydney in a single day.<br/>