As a result of upgrading government border standards in the overseas countries and as a further preventive protection measure to avoid spreading COVID-19, Air New Zealand will need to use masks on all foreign aircraft to and from New Zealand.

Currently, domestic customers on the airline are also subjected to the requirements of the local government to wear masks on-air between Australia, Rarotonga, Samoa, South Korea, and Tonga.

Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and safety officer David Morgan said the airline continues to proactively track operating processes to keep customers, staff, and New Zealand secure. 

 “As COVID-19 cases around the world continue to rise, particularly with new variant strains, we’ve put this requirement in place to further ensure the safety of our customers, aircrew, and broader New Zealand," he said.

"Our customers are already required by law to wear masks inflight to a number of our destinations, so extending this mandate to the remainder of our network provides a further safeguard against any potential spread of the virus".

 "To date, our customers have been overwhelmingly supportive of the requirement to wear masks and we thank them for their ongoing cooperation,” he added.

The carrier continues to collaborate with the government in New Zealand on border requirements, such as last week's pre-departure tests.