Tough restrictions are in place at Auckland's airport.

Under the Alert Level Three restrictions, only essential workers and Kiwis returning home or transiting can fly out of Auckland.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Greg Foran told Heather Du Plessis Allan they're making sure the right people are getting on planes.

"That is handled through the people in the Airport, what they call AVSEC, and that's their responsibility to make sure people are travelling for a valid reason out of Auckland."

He says they haven't had to cancel flights yet.

"We actually had planned for something like this that could occur beforehand and had put in place the systems and processes."