The competition watchdog revealed the cut in seats for sale during the last few months came despite the local industry hitting 97 per cent of pre-COVID passenger numbers in June.
The Kiwi flag carrier is in a flap after Emirates launched a near identical version of its iconic 2016 TV advert featuring Dave the goose, who skips a migration to fly on one of its aircraft.
On Tuesday, it emerged the problems also led the budget airline to cancel flights to Phuket and Japan due to the fleet issues.
It comes after the ABC’s flagship investigative program on Monday made a series of allegations, including that remaining employees are working longer hours and working at “max capacity”.
The aircraft were helping the island countries of Vanuatu and Kiribati as part of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency’s (FFA) Operation Island Chief.
According to new data from the Department of Infrastructure, passenger numbers hit a post-COVID high of 1.6 million in June, up from 1.3 million in May, but well below 2019 levels.