Air New Zealand opens Brisbane base for Norfolk Island ops

Air New Zealand will establish a temporary pilot and crew base in Brisbane Int'l, Australia until November 30, 2021, to ensure potential disruptions to the trans-Tasman travel bubble will not again affect the continuity of its services to Norfolk Island, the airline says. This follows after Air New Zealand managed to extend its agreement with the Australian government to operate flights between Norfolk Island and Australia for another two years. The island is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, around 1,400 kilometres due east of the Australian mainland. Air New Zealand will resume services to Norfolk Island from August 30, 2021, until the end of August 2023. Under the agreement, it will use an A320-200N to operate up to three flights per week from Brisbane and three flights from Sydney Kingsford Smith to Norfolk Island. Even though the island is an offshore Australian territory, it has been serviced by Air New Zealand since 2012 in terms of an agreement with the Australian government. It was the only airline operating scheduled services between Norfolk and mainland Australia during 2020.<br/>