Air NZ boss says trans-Tasman flights unlikely until March

Air NZ CE Greg Foran says quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand is unlikely to resume for at least another six months, bursting hopes of a proposed "trans-Tasman bubble" opening before March next year. The airline boss also says eliminating Covid-19 was no longer a realistic goal, and that countries need to learn to live with the virus. The 59-year-old former Woolworths and Walmart executive started at Air New Zealand on February 3 this year. "I never got to experience Air New Zealand in anything but a crisis," says Foran. Air NZ has been hit especially hard because it makes two-thirds of its earnings from international flying, which will remain shut off long after domestic travel has returned. That compares to one-third at Qantas. The big question for all airlines is when they can start flying again, where to and who will want to step on board. A month ago Foran said it would take at least until 2023 for demand to recover to pre-Covid levels but now says the outlook is less certain. That's because while vaccines will likely start to roll out from the end of this year, they will not be 100 per cent effective - perhaps only 50% he says - while distributing them around the globe will take years. Even then, not everyone will get the jab. "In America... they’ve recently done a survey over there and only half the people said they’ll take the vaccine," he says. "And then of course we have reinfection rates." Australia and New Zealand's governments had both hoped to have a "trans-Tasman bubble" allowing unrestricted travel between the two countries operating by September, before second waves of infections hit Auckland and Melbourne. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison raised the idea again at Friday's national cabinet meeting but Foran says it won't be happening any time soon.<br/>