Larger pets have been grounded on some of Air New Zealand’s domestic flights after a spate of injuries to staff as they try to load heavy carriers into aircraft holds.
Air New Zealand has introduced new size and weight restrictions for carriers on its smaller domestic flights. From next week, pets and carriers weighing more than a combined 60 kilograms will be grounded.
The changes had to be made for the safety of staff, Air NZ chief safety and integrity officer Nathan McGraw told Morning Report.
“It’s a bit of a tough call … [we] appreciate this will be disappointing. It’s fair to say the number of larger pets is smaller in number.”
McGraw said there had been more than 50 injuries to staff in the past couple of years from loading large and bulky items into smaller aircraft holds.
“When you’re loading these carriers into confined spaces, there’s a lot of moving, positioning and tilting – particularly if there’s a large animal inside that may move and shift, which creates a risk of injury to our people and to the well-being of the pet.”
For anyone wanting to travel with an animal and carrier that weighed more than 60kg, McGraw said it was still possible, but they would need to go through a pet transport company.
“They work closely with our team, and you can add the pet as you did in the past to your ticket, but it takes you through to those options.
“For a jet service we can carry those larger crates but through those transport companies.”
