13.9 million parcels and counting - NZ Post prepares for the final push in delivering Christmas presents.

“This has been an extraordinary year, marked by the uncertainty of the COVID pandemic, and our message throughout the Holiday Season has been to send as early as you can,” says NZ Post Chief Customer Officer Bryan Dobson.

“So far over this Holiday Season we have delivered almost 14 million parcels. We are currently delivering just over 2 million parcels a week and expect these sorts of numbers to continue this week. These volumes are similar to the surge following the move from Alert Level 4 into Alert Level 3 earlier in the year, but the good news is that for Christmas we have been able to plan and prepare, bringing on hundreds of extra people, vans and flights to deliver these parcels. We’re very proud of our people and how hard they are working to make sure presents are under the tree in time for Christmas.

“Our people will be out continuing to deliver presents this week in the lead up to Christmas Day, so to avoid disappointment, if you are expecting something and won’t be home, you can log onto our tracking tool online and give us instructions for somewhere safe to leave your parcel.

One of the major areas of disruption due to the COVID response has been fewer planes flying into and out of the country, limiting space for parcels being sent and received internationally.

“Our teams have been working around the clock, sourcing extra flights, including four special charter flights over the past two weeks to Australia.

“There may be further delays, out of NZ Post’s control, on the ground in destination countries such as the UK, parts of Europe, and Sydney, due to tightening restrictions and COVID Lockdowns. Despite this, we are doing all we can to make sure presents get to where they need to be on time,” Bryan Dobson says.