Multiple flights are cancelled ahead of the cyclone. Photo: Unsplash / Douglas Bagg
Air New Zealand has cancelled several North Island flights ahead of Cyclone Gabrielle.
All flights to or from Kerikeri and Whāngarei between midday Sunday and Tuesday morning are cancelled, and the final flights into Hamilton and Tauranga on Sunday night are cancelled.
All turboprop flights to, from or through Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga from midday tomorrow through to midday Monday are cancelled.
Air New Zealand said customers eligible for a refund will be contacted.
Air New Zealand Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer Captain David Morgan said the airline is closely monitoring the severity of the incoming storm.
"We're doing everything we can to minimise the impact on our schedule, however our top priority at this time is the safety and wellbeing of our customers and our people.
"Part of the preparation involves making changes ahead of the expected impact of the cyclone, so we can reposition crew and move our regional turbo prop aircraft to hangars or ports where they won't be at risk of high winds. We'd like to thank customers for their understanding if their plans are impacted.
"Given that this a constantly changing event, customers should prepare for further flight cancellations. We'll provide further updates to customers directly via the Air New Zealand app and post updates on our travel alerts page.
"We ask customers to refrain from calling our contact centre as we're experiencing a high volume of calls."
The airline is also advising those with non-urgent travel between Sunday and 17 February make use of the flexibility policy.
Customers can either hold their fare in credit for 12 months or rebook in the same class of travel between Sunday and 22 February without fare difference, penalty or service fees.
Fiji Airways has also cancelled two flights between Nadi and Auckland on Sunday due to the cyclone.
A third flight scheduled to leave Auckland at 8am Sunday will now leave about seven hours earlier.
The airline is asking passengers to defer travel if possible.