Air Chathams still consulting on vaccinations for passengers

Air Chathams is yet to make a decision on passenger vaccination status requirements when they eventually get back in the air. Photo / Lewis Gardner

Air Chathams has earmarked early December to resume flights out of Whanganui.

Chief operating officer Duane Emeny said they had been part of consultations with the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Health regarding the new "traffic light" Covid-19 Protection Framework and its impact on regional travel.

"It has been interesting," Emeny said.

"I'm reasonably confident off the back of that Aucklanders will be able to leave for Christmas. I can see the work going on in the background why that is the case, so that is encouraging."

He said they had flagged December 5 as their relaunch date, anticipating Auckland would be using the new framework by then.

The last Air Chathams flight out of Whanganui was on August 19.

"The reality of the situation we are in, you have to put your finger in the air and make an educated guess.

"That's an example of that. We are closely monitoring vaccination rates of Auckland and the country."

Air New Zealand announced on Tuesday it will require all domestic passengers to be fully vaccinated or produce a negative test result from the middle of December.

Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran said a survey of customers showed the majority wanted it.

Emeny said he respected Air New Zealand's position as it allowed those who couldn't or didn't want to get vaccinated to still be able to travel by producing a negative test 72 hours before flying.

"We agree and support the announcement made by Air New Zealand. We think that is a very pragmatic approach. At the end of the day, it is looking at the health and safety of their team and the customers travelling on their services."

Emeny said they were still in the consultation stage on what would be required of Air Chathams' passengers.

"What we do think though is there is a lot of work happening through Auckland Airport which is a large part of our workforce to mandate vaccination to the security areas so that will probably capture most of our staff.

"We are just at a point where there is a lot of work happening and there will be some clarity over the next few days.

"We are taking the approach where it is best not to make a definitive decision at this early stage as things can change very quickly."