Air New Zealand has brought forward the abolition of flights from London due to the global coronavirus travel collapse.
The airline’s Heathrow-Los Angeles service which connects with Auckland is currently suspended until June 30 due to government travel bans and low demand.
The carrier has now announced that suspended routes to London and Buenos Aires will not be resumed as a result of the “deep impact” of Covid-19 on forward travel demand.
The plan to exit the Los Angeles-London route in October 2020 was announced last year. Then in March the carrier brought forward the closure of its London cabin crew base.
Air New Zealand operated a daily service between Los Angeles and London and up to five times weekly from Auckland to Buenos Aires prior to the outbreak of the virus.
The airline has also taken postponed the start of its non-stop Auckland-New York service from October 29 until late 2021 at the earliest.
The airline is currently operating a limited international network through to June 30 to keep air links open for essential travel and cargo movement on key trade routes.
Total capacity has been slashed to 95% of pre-Covid-19 levels and demand will be reviewed on a route-by-route basis before services are resumed.
Chief networks, strategy and alliances officer Nick Judd revealed that demand for international travel has been tracking at just 5% of pre-Covid-19 levels into June.
“It’s deeply disappointing to be in this position. Our people have worked tenaciously over the years to build these markets and excitement was growing for our non-stop New York flight,” he said.
“However, the effects of Covid-19 continue to bite; we expect most countries to take a cautious approach to international travel in the next year and we have to be pragmatic.
“Government travel restrictions will continue for some time and demand for our Los Angeles-London service is unlikely to recover before our planned exit in October.
“Argentina has been challenging before the pandemic and we don’t expect this market to recover quickly.”