Travel alerts

Important information about travel to and from Chicago for April 2024 -October 2025

Important information about travel to and from Chicago for April 2024 -October 2025

We've made the difficult decision to extend the pause on our direct services between Auckland and Chicago which was due to resume from 25 October 2024.

Unfortunately, ongoing challenges with the availability of Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines on our 787-9 aircraft means we haven’t been able to return to our Chicago route in October as expected. We anticipate returning to Chicago when we receive our new 787 aircraft from Boeing, currently expected in the second half of  2025.

Next steps:

👉There's nothing you need to do. We will send you an updated itinerary within the next 5 business days.

👉 Keep an eye on your flight details on the Air NZ app

If your booking was made through a travel agent or third party online agent, please reach out to them directly to confirm your options.

Rethinking your travel plans? Below are your options 👇

Travel credit: Would you rather postpone your journey? You can do so by cancelling your flight and opting for credit through Manage Booking. You'll have a whole year to book your next journey.

Refund: Would you like to change your plans altogether? You can do this by getting in touch with us here.

More information on how to apply for a credit or refund can be found here.

Thank you for your continued support

We know it's not the news you wished for before your travels, rest assured, we're refueling our efforts to ensure your journey takes off as soon as possible 💜

Important information about travel to and from Chicago for April-October

If you hold a booking that includes travel from Auckland to Chicago and is impacted by our latest schedule change, an automated message was sent to you in error with the subject line 'Your flight has been cancelled due to COVID-19'. We kindly ask you to disregard the information in this message.

The following message was also sent to you and is correct:

We've made the difficult decision to pause our direct services between Auckland and Chicago from 31 March to 25 October 2024.

Ongoing global challenges with the availability of Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines which are used on our Boeing 787 aircraft operating the Chicago services, mean we have fewer aircraft available to fly.

This impacts your booking.

We will rebook your flight

We will rebook you on another service via a different US port within the next 72 hours. We know it is important for you to get to your destination on time so we'll align this as close to your original schedule as possible. Please be assured we will contact you directly with the new booking details, there is nothing further for you to do.

If you booked with a travel agent or third party, please contact them directly to discuss new flight options.

If you no longer need to travel

We understand that this change may not suit your needs:

You can choose to cancel your flight and request a credit through Manage Booking. You will have 12 months from the day your credit is processed to book a flight, and another 12 months to travel. For information about credits, please see our website.
You can request a full refund of your flight. If you have booked a refundable fare, you can do so through Manage Booking. If this option is not available to you online, please complete a refund request form to cancel your booking and receive a full refund.

 More information

We are confident we can get you to your destination on the same day as you planned.
If we are not able to rebook you on the same day as your original flight our schedule change policy applies for incidental costs and accommodation.
Information about your rights around flight disruptions can be found on our website.

Thank you for your continued support

We appreciate your patience and understanding through this period., Our team is working hard to ensure you have flexible options to make your journey with us as seamless as possible.

Disrupt Reimbursement Consideration

If your journey has been disrupted for a controllable reason, e.g. engineering, or crew shortages, and your new itinerary requires you to stay overnight in a place you do not reside, our airport team will be working hard to secure accommodation for you.

Over peak travel periods, availability is extremely limited and you may be required to source your own accommodation.

As a guideline, we recommend $250.00 per room and $90.00 per person, per night for meals. This is a recommended amount only, and all expenses must be reasonable and supported by itemised tax invoice receipts. Please retain all itemised tax invoice receipts, as they are required for reimbursement consideration.

To submit your reimbursement request, please visit here to do so. Alternatively, you can visit here for details on how to submit your claim through our messaging channels.