Thousands of permanent Air New Zealand staff will get $1000 worth of company shares.

Chief executive Greg Foran told Heather du Plessis-Allan it's to say thank you for the job they've done over the past 18 months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He says the staff have gone above and beyond - including pilots who've had over a hundred Covid-19 tests and endured stints in managed isolation.

"We wanted to say thank you and I appreciate our board, and I appreciate everyone supporting what we've done here."

Horan also thinks Air New Zealand can get their long haul routes restarted at some point next year after people have had a chance to be vaccinated.

LISTEN ABOVE