Air New Zealand sees more losses due to closed borders

Bloomberg

Air New Zealand expects to suffer at least three straight years of losses as the pandemic continues to keep international borders closed and severely restrict long-haul travel.
The airline will post a loss before significant items and tax of as much as NZ$450 million ($315 million) for the year ended on June 30 and foresees a “comparable” result in the 2022 financial year, it said in a trading update in Wellington. The carrier, which plunged to its first annual loss in 18 years in 2020, said while it has seen a strong and sustained recovery in domestic travel demand, long-haul passenger volumes remain less than 5% of pre-Covid levels.
“Despite the domestic market continuing to perform strongly and the fact that bookings on the Tasman and Cook Islands continue to build, a large degree of uncertainty remains,” Air New Zealand said.
“The airline is not expecting any meaningful recovery in long-haul demand in the 2022 financial year, notwithstanding the roll out of global vaccination programs and the potential for long-haul borders to begin reopening progressively in the second half of the financial year.”
New Zealand has opened quarantine-free travel corridors with Australia and the Cook Islands, but a significant reopening of its border is not expected for some time. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern aims to have a high percentage of the population vaccinated by the end of the year, but even then has spoken of a staged re-opening to other low-risk countries rather than a quick return to pre-pandemic travel norms.
Air New Zealand, which traditionally generates two thirds of its revenue from international travel, said it has renegotiated the delivery date for the first
of eight new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which were ordered in 2019 prior to the outbreak of Covid-19.