Air New Zealand warns of 'packed flights', delays and queues over Christmas

Air New Zealand is advising Kiwis to expect “packed flights”, delays and queues over the Christmas period, calling upon travellers to be patient with airline and airport staff as they grapple with sickness and staff shortages. The shortages across the aviation sector are set to coincide with what the airline said “will be an extraordinarily busy time to fly”. This summer will be the first in three years with the airline’s full network operating, and it expects to fly 2.8m customers around New Zealand and overseas. Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said flights will be packed “with lots of queues and extra baggage. ”As we prepare for a bumper summer, we’re pulling out all the stops to take the friction out – with new aircraft, hiring 2200 more people, 300 airport volunteers and contingency plans in place for disrupts.” Even so, the entire airport community will be under pressure, she said. “Airports, security screening and check-in areas are going to be much busier than usual. We’re asking customers to allow additional time to get to and through the airport they are travelling from and to be as patient as possible as our staff who are working to get everyone to their holiday destination.” December 23 is shaping up to be the airline’s busiest day of the year with more than 55,000 customers set to fly – a 77% increase on the 31,000 who flew on the same date last year. More than 50,000 customers are expected to fly on December 15, 16, 22, 27 and 28. Auckland to Christchurch is set to be the busiest route this Christmas, and the airline is using its new A321neo aircraft to provide extra seats.<br/>