Air New Zealand has lost a key executive, with chief operating officer Carrie Hurihanganui resigning. 

She will take on the role of chief executive at Auckland Airport early next year. 

Hurihanganui has worked at the airline for 22 years. 

Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran said she had developed "exceptional leadership skills and operational knowledge". 

"It will be very sad to see her leave the company, but great to see her lead an organisation we work so closely with," he said. 

"Carrie has done an exceptional job, especially since Covid began to impact our business. It was no small feat to keep our operations running across engineering, airports, airline operations, properties, supply chain, cabin crew and pilots during a constantly changing crisis. 

"The industry may not be out of this yet, but it will be nice to know Carrie isn't too far away as we work together to rebuild aviation for New Zealanders." 

Meanwhile Foran said earlier today that the airline's decision to go ahead with a 'no jab, no fly' policy had come about after several discussions. 

Speaking to the Breakfast programme, he said they hoped to make the transition as smooth as possible over the next four months before the policy comes into effect in February. 

There were still logistical issues to handle and they would be working closely with Government officials to figure out how people would easily show proof of vaccination. 

Foran was somewhat coy about whether or not the policy would soon include domestic travel, saying he was aware that quite a few places in New Zealand could only be travelled to via an Air NZ flight. 

"I want to be very careful as we think that one through and so that's a discussion we'll have with our board - and put forward some thoughts, get some feedback from them and see where that takes them." 

He did say, however, that there had been "overwhelmingly positive" feedback regarding the airline's new policy. 

This follows on from a number of other international airlines rolling out similar policies. 

In September, Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce has confirmed the Australian airline will mandate Covid-19 vaccinations for all passengers flying overseas, as the country gears up to reopen some international routes by Christmas. 

The airline has announced plans to resume overseas flights to certain ports from mid-December. 

The countries on the short list for routes to resume include Japan, Singapore, the US and the UK