After the New Zealand government pushed back the staged reopening of the country’s borders, national carrier Air New Zealand has cut flights to six international destinations.

The airline has adjusted the number of flights it planned to operate in and out of New Zealand from international destinations during the first quarter of 2022.

Late last week, Air New Zealand issued a travel advisory that reduced the number of flights it would operate to six international ports across various dates between mid-January and March 31.

All the impacted flights depart from and arrive into New Zealand from Auckland. Last Tuesday (December 21), the Jacinda Ardern-led government delayed the first stage in New Zealand’s border reopening from mid-January until the end of February.

Air New Zealand said it would cancel around 120 services through to the end of February due to the re-opening plans being pushed back, affecting about 27,000 customers.

According to Ardern, the decisions were taken to give the government more time to prepare for Omicron.

“It’s unfortunately not a case of if (it spreads in New Zealand) but when … it’s so easily spread. So we are doing everything we can to maker sure we are prepared,” Ardern said on Facebook Live.

It was to be a small reopening – New Zealand would allow its own citizens and permanent residents departing from Australia to skip the quarantine process on arrival. However, that small start promised to breathe some life into Air New Zealand’s flights from its many Australian ports.

The deferral of the reopening saw Air New Zealand abandon plans to ramp up its trans-Tasman flying from mid-January. Instead, later in the week, the airline confirmed it would only operate daily return flights to Melbourne and Sydney between January 17 and February 27.

In addition, three return flights a week to Brisbane, two return flights a week to Perth would also operate over the same period.