Travel alerts

US Government shut down impacts on TSA at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston)

We’d like to advise customers travelling from or transiting through George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) that processing times at the airport are currently significantly extended.

Security screening and border processing wait times are currently extended and may increase further in the coming days.

This is due to reduced staffing levels for US security and border agencies during the ongoing federal government shutdown, combined with higher passenger volumes over the Spring Break travel period.

Customers may experience significant queues for check-in, security screening, and immigration processing. In some cases, wait times have exceeded seven hours.

• If you are travelling from Houston, we recommend arriving at the airport as early as possible and checking the George Bush Intercontinental Airport website for current checkpoint wait-time estimates to help plan your journey

• Air New Zealand check-in will be open from 5:05 pm to 8:05 pm in Terminal E. 

• If you’ve checked in online, you must still arrive early to allow extra time for security and immigration processing.

• If you are transiting through Houston onto another airline, please allow additional time between flights to complete security and immigration requirements.

• To help reduce processing time, we strongly encourage customers to travel with minimal carry-on baggage where possible. Fewer and smaller cabin bags can assist with faster security screening.
  
  
  

For the latest information, please see the Houston Airport website.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Disrupt Reimbursement Consideration

If your journey has been disrupted for a controllable reason, e.g. engineering, or crew shortages, and your new itinerary requires you to stay overnight in a place you do not reside, our airport team will be working hard to secure accommodation for you.

Over peak travel periods, availability is extremely limited and you may be required to source your own accommodation.

As a guideline, we recommend $250.00 per room and $90.00 per person, per night for meals. This is a recommended amount only, and all expenses must be reasonable and supported by itemised tax invoice receipts. Please retain all itemised tax invoice receipts, as they are required for reimbursement consideration.

To submit your reimbursement request, please visit here to do so. Alternatively, you can visit here for details on how to submit your claim through our messaging channels.