Source::Xinhuanet
XINHUA/RSS
The New Zealand government has awarded a new round of airline support contracts through to the end of October 2021 to help keep the country connected internationally and positioned for recovery, Transport Minister Michael Wood said on Thursday.
The government moved quickly to keep critical trade flowing at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to support economic recovery, Wood said in a statement. The previous International Airfreight Capacity scheme was restructured in March this year to focus on staying connected with international partners and the economic recovery. It allows support levels to reduce as passenger numbers rise, he said.
"Airfreight capacity is at 90 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels, thanks to the previous scheme and its successor Maintaining International Air Connectivity scheme, which have helped keep trade channels open and maintain the supply of time-critical goods like medicine into New Zealand," the minister said.
In March 2020, the government set aside 600 million New Zealand dollars for an aviation relief package as part of the 12.1-billion-New Zealand dollar (8.8 billion U.S. dollars) COVID-19 support package. Since May last year, government support has enabled more than 7,000 flights carrying over 136,000 tonnes of airfreight worth around 10 billion New Zealand dollars (7.29 billion U.S. dollars), he said.
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