Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says any law change around Air New Zealand's refund policy wouldn’t be retrospective.
It comes as Consumer NZ is calling for urgent reform, after thousands of Kiwis have struggled to get cash refunds back on cancelled flights, instead being made to take credit for future travel.
Ms Ardern was asked about the issue while speaking to the media in Kaikōura this afternoon.
"I know they [Air New Zealand] are working hard. They've dished out thousands of refunds in a very short space of time, and so we just encourage them to keep working through those issues with their customers."
However, any law change wouldn't help those affected by Covid-19 cancellations that have already been made, she said.
"It wouldn't be retrospective. That would be forward looking and we ourselves have said there needs to be a look at whether or not we're in alignment with regulation in other parts of the world, but we've all been pretty clear that would be forward planning not retrospective."
Air NZ’s chief revenue officer Cam Wallace says the airline has been "overwhelmed" by the Covid-19 crisis.
Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said the non-profit organisation met with Air New Zealand yesterday to discuss the airline only providing credits for flights cancelled due to Covid-19.
“There are many loyal Air New Zealand customers who will be extremely disappointed by the response. The only way to fix the problem is to change the law so consumers aren’t left in this situation again,” he said.
While Mr Duffy said Air New Zealand has maintained its position over refunds, he says it "acknowledged some customers were in genuine financial hardship and says it will provide refunds in these cases".
Fair Go spoke with officials at the national carrier to see what they had to say to the fed up Kiwis.
Consumer NZ has also asked the airline to provide better information on its website about rights to a refund for EU and US flights.
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