Air New Zealand’s 80th birthday party has been crashed by a black swan.

This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

No international passengers will arrive in New Zealand on Wednesday for the first time in decades.

The only planned international flight, from Tonga to Auckland, was cancelled.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts said it was a symbolic day.

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Virginia Woolf Air NZ usually operated more than 400 domestic flights a day prior to the pandemic

"We've talked about international visitation falling to zero, well now it has precisely done that," Roberts said.

"Tourism is going to be the last industry to recover from this crisis, and we know that recovery is a three to five year recovery horizon.

"It will be the longest recovery for any sector in the country. We've clearly hit the bottom today so the only way is up, it can only get better from here."

Hundreds of passengers were expected to arrive on Thursday, he said.

There were still some domestic passengers on Wednesday, with Air New Zealand confirming 175 passengers were booked to fly domestically using the airline on 14 flights.

The airline usually operated more than 400 domestic flights a day prior to the pandemic.

This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.