NEWS

Air New Zealand's Premium Economy wins big at Skytrax Awards

Air NZ and Tourism NZ enter into new $20 million partnership, unveils new livery

Air NZ includes Virgin Australia to Australia's domestic sectors

Air New Zealand highly ranked amongst world’s safest airlines

Minimum Connect Time at LHR has Changed

Air New Zealand to further increase capacity from North America

Air New Zealand invests in B777-200ER upgrade program

New LAX Terminal for Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand to Increase Flights between Los Angeles & Auckland

Excess Baggage Rate Increase

Premium Economy Spaceseat Surcharge to SOPAC

TSA Secure Flight Program

Upgrade Economy pax to Skycouch

Air New Zealand's Premium Economy wins big at Skytrax Awards

(18 June 2013) Air New Zealand's Premium Economy Class has taken top honours overnight at the prestigious 2013 Skytrax World Airline Awards, sweeping the board in all three Premium Economy categories.

The airline took home the awards for 'Best Premium Economy Class', 'Best Premium Economy Class Seat' and 'Best Premium Economy Class Onboard Catering' for its Premium Economy cabin on board its Boeing 777-300 fleet.

The World Airline Awards are the global benchmark of airline excellence. The awards are determined each year by the Skytrax airline passenger satisfaction survey of more than 18 million airline passengers from over 160 countries.

The study covers over 200 airlines and measures passenger satisfaction across more than 40 key performance indicators of airline product and service including onboard seat comfort, food and staff service.

Air New Zealand General Manager Customer Experience Calum Laming collected the awards in Paris overnight and said the accolades reaffirm the airline is delivering a world-class Premium Economy product and travel experience for its customers.

"Air New Zealand's Premium Economy cabin has proven extremely popular with customers since it was first introduced in 2011. To be recognised in all three categories at these awards is a huge achievement and testament to our staff who work hard to consistently deliver a premium customer experience," says Mr Laming.

Air New Zealand's Premium Economy cabin offers customers more space and privacy with the state-of-the-art Spaceseat as well as the enjoyment of New Zealand-inspired food and wine and gate to gate entertainment.

Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand enter into new $20 million partnership, unveils new livery

(11 June 2013) "As the national airline of New Zealand, growth in inbound tourism to New Zealand is a critical factor in our success. We fly more international visitors to New Zealand than any other airline and it is vital that we work together with tourism partners such as Tourism New Zealand in order to convert the opportunities out there," says Mr Luxon.

Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler says partnership activity remains a key priority for the organisation in its new three-year marketing strategy.

"This MoU follows the Government's announcement of a $158 million boost in tourism funding over the next four years enabling us to enhance and expand our marketing efforts," says Mr Bowler.

"Tourism New Zealand welcomes Air New Zealand's decision to also lift its co-investment in marketing New Zealand in parallel to the Government's boosted commitment meaning we can do more together. Working in partnerships is proven to extend the reach and effectiveness of our campaigns.

"This additional marketing investment will build on the strong visitor arrival growth achieved over the first four months of 2013."

Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand have a strong track record of working together to market New Zealand as a destination. Recent collaboration includes high profile leverage activity to market New Zealand in association with The Hobbit trilogy; joint advertising campaigns in Australia, Japan, China, North America and Europe, hosting over 180 international media to New Zealand and activity to educate the trade on New Zealand including a recent familiarisation for 140 travel agents from North America, the United Kingdom and Europe.

Over the next 12 months, the organisations will continue to jointly promote New Zealand to travellers through advertising, PR activity, working closely with trade partners and on campaigns that actively target business events.

In the coming year, Air New Zealand will also introduce its new aircraft livery which features the iconic New Zealand Fern Mark.

"We are delighted to reveal our new aircraft livery which would not have been possible without the support of Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. The new-look livery is distinctive and iconic and we believe will inspire a sense of pride in New Zealanders," says Mr Luxon.

The livery design process involved extensive consumer testing including focus groups both in New Zealand and offshore. A clear preference was established for the New Zealand Way Fern Markto be incorporated into the design with 78 per cent of those surveyed believing it fits with the Air New Zealand brand and represented New Zealand.

The new livery will be progressively rolled out across the Air New Zealand fleet from later this year. The majority of the airline's fleet will eventually feature the white version of the new livery and a limited number will feature the distinctive black version of the new design.

Air NZ includes Virgin Australia to Australia's domestic sectors

(18 April 2013) We are very pleased to announce the introduction of new published fares from the USA and Canada to Australia featuring the addition of Virgin Australia’s domestic network to our own extensive South Pacific routings!

The new fares are now available for travel in all cabins commencing on/after 01 August 2013, and permit the use of NZ code-share flights within Australia which are operated by Virgin Australia.

You will recognize these fares by the inclusion of the letter “V” within the fare basis code of the USA/Canada- Australia fares filed in your GDS and you can see which Virgin Australia (VA)-operated sectors are included in these fares by accessing the routing map filed in the GDS.

For example, the new fares permit travel between the following cities, which was previously not included in our through fares to Australia:

Sydney – Melbourne / Brisbane / Cairns / Perth
Melbourne – Brisbane / Cairns / Perth
Brisbane – Cairns / Perth
Adelaide - Perth

All VA operated flights within Australia must be booked under the corresponding NZ code-share flight number, with all Economy and Premium Economy fares requiring these flights to be booked in P class, and all Business Premier fares requiring J (or B class if J is not available). You will also find this booking class information stored in your GDS.

While these new fares include unlimited free stopovers in Auckland, there are a couple of points of distinction to note:

These fares do not permit the use of American Airlines (AA), Air Canada (AC) or WestJet (WS) flights within North America.
These fares do not permit the use of NZ code-share transpacific flights operated by Air Canada (between Vancouver and Sydney) or by Air Tahiti Nui (between Los Angeles and Papeete).

With respect to through baggage-check and boarding passes, for itineraries that include solely Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia operated flights (Los Angeles to Canberra, for example), bags will be tagged to the final destination and boarding passes issued for each sector of the journey. For itineraries that include a third carrier (United Airlines on a Denver to Darwin itinerary, for example), your customers should expect their bags to be tagged and boarding passes issued to the furthest Air New Zealand gateway in their itinerary, where they will have to re-check their bags and have the boarding passes issued for the remainder of their journey.

We trust that these new fares will allow you to offer your customers more itinerary options when selling travel to New Zealand and/or Australia.

Air New Zealand highly ranked amongst world’s safest airlines

(10 January 2013) Europe’s Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC) has ranked Air New Zealand second behind Finnair in the annual JACDEC Safety Index which recognises safety in the aviation industry. Other carriers to make the top ten included Virgin Australia, Cathay Pacific, and Etihad.

David Morgan, Air New Zealand Chief Flight Operations and Safety Officer, says this recognition is testament to the airline’s dedication to maintaining a strong safety culture.

“Safety is paramount and non-negotiable at Air New Zealand. We have worked hard as an airline to create a safety culture which has been embraced by more than 10,000 employees and it’s very pleasing to have been recognised by an external agency,” says Morgan.

JACDEC collects and analyses safety occurrences from airlines around the world. The Safety Index ratings are calculated by comparing hull loss accidents and serious incidents suffered by airlines over the past 30 years to the revenue passenger kilometres they have performed over the same period. Airlines are also measured against other international safety benchmarks.

Visit the JACDEC website to view the full list: http://www.jacdec.de/jacdec_safety_ranking_2012.htm

Minimum Connect Time at LHR has Changed

MINIMUM CONNECT TIME AT LHR TERMINAL 5 TO TERMINAL 1 HAS CHANGED TO 2 HOURS

UK connecting passengers at LHR

Most domestic connections within the United Kingdom are operated on our behalf by British Airways and Aer Lingus. Boarding passes are unable to be issued by these carriers but checked in bags will be through checked to passengers final destination. Air New Zealand boarding passes will need to be collected at the Air New Zealand Transfer desk in Terminal 1 which can be located by following the purple signs to 'Flight Connections' on arrival at Heathrow. Please note: flights within the UK arrive and depart from Terminal 1 (BA8000 series flights) and Terminal 5. Terminal 5 arrivals will have a minimum connecting time of 2 hours to connect with our Air New Zealand departures from Terminal 1.

International arrivals into LHR

If your passenger holds a boarding pass and luggage is labelled to final UK destination - follow the purple ‘Flight Connections’ signs upon arrival at Terminal 1. Proceed through Security and Passport Control where staff will give directions to the departure gate for the onward flight. If your passenger does not hold a boarding pass for the next flight these can be collected at the relevant airlines transfer desk at the Flight Connections Centre. Customs Clearance will be at final UK destination. Please note: flights within the UK arrive and depart from Terminal 1 (BA8000 series flights) and Terminal 5. Terminal 5 arrivals will have a minimum connecting time of 2 hours to connect with our Air New Zealand departures from Terminal 1.

If you have not been checked right through to my final UK destination – i.e. your baggage receipt shows 'LHR', clear immigration, retrieve your checked-in baggage, clear customs and check-in for the onward flight.

Air New Zealand to further increase capacity from North America

(Oct 3, 2012) Air New Zealand will add approximately 5,000 return seats a month to New Zealand as it further increases capacity from San Francisco, Vancouver and Los Angeles from April 2013.

The airline will operate daily return flights on the San Francisco-Auckland route. To date, the San Francisco service has predominantly run five times per week.

Los Angeles to Auckland will also increase, with twice daily flights from April, compared with 12 flights per week at the same time this year. Air New Zealand will continue to operate a third Los Angeles-Auckland flight one day a week in peak demand periods around the July and October. The additional capacity will replace more than 75% of the seats lost from the California market earlier this year following the exit of one of Air New Zealand’s competitors.

The Vancouver to Auckland route will also see a significant boost in capacity with three return services per week in off peak periods (previously two). Air New Zealand will operate five times a week over peak demand times from mid December to the end of February.

The increase builds on already boosted capacity increase on North American routes which was announced in March and Air New Zealand anticipates announcing further capacity additions beyond July 2013 in the coming weeks.

Air New Zealand invests in B777-200ER upgrade program

(Sept 19, 2012) Air New Zealand is investing more than $100 million in upgrading its Boeing 777-200ER fleet to ensure it continues to deliver the most innovative product and technologies to customers flying on its international network.

Air New Zealand Deputy CEO Norm Thompson says the upgrade of the eight aircraft is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2014, with all eight aircraft planned to be completed in the following 12 months. Mr Thompson says the 777-200ER first entered service with Air New Zealand in 2005, and has proven to be a very efficient aircraft throughout the airline’s network. The 304-seat 777-200ER aircraft currently operate on a selection of international routes.In addition to new ‘Panasonic eXlite’ IFE system changes, the upgrade will introduce the new elements of the Air New Zealand brand refresh seen in the interiors of the 777-300ER and A320 domestic aircraft. This will see the Business Premier seats on the 777-200ER upgraded to match that on the 777-300ER, and the complete replacement of the Premium Economy and Economy seats.

Mr Thompson says that the upgrade is part of Air New Zealand’s commitment to maintaining a young, modern fleet, and delivering cutting-edge products to its customers alongside award-winning service.

New LAX Terminal for Air New Zealand

(July 30, 2012) Air New Zealand is to have a new home at Los Angeles International Airport.

After nearly 20 years based in Terminal 2, the airline will in early 2014 move to the Tom Bradley International Terminal which is currently undergoing a US$1.7 billion makeover. In a first for the airline, Air New Zealand has also been appointed to design and operate a brand new Star Alliance lounge in the terminal.

The terminal move will enable passengers to access better facilities when arriving or departing Los Angeles and also while in transit. Passengers transiting through Los Angeles on NZ1 and NZ2 will no longer wait in a small transit lounge. Instead they’ll be able to quickly clear a more efficient customs processing facility and then make use of 180,000 square feet of dining, shopping, retail and passenger amenities while they await their onward journey.

The Tom Bradley International Terminal upgrade will add 18 new gates and a brand new dining and retail precinct. The project will be completed in stages over the next two years.

The new Star Alliance Lounge, designed in conjunction with international architecture firm, Gensler, will be used by eight Star Alliance partner airlines that also operate out of the Tom Bradley terminal including Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Swiss Air.

This large and well equipped work and relaxation space will replace Air New Zealand’s existing Los Angeles based lounge in Terminal 2.

Air New Zealand to Increase Flights between Los Angeles and Auckland

To meet the high demand for Kiwi outbound travel between New Zealand and Los Angeles Air New Zealand will operate an additional two return trips per week between Jun and Oct 2012. With the addition of these flights Air New Zealand will now operate up to 14 non-stop flights per week between Auckland and Los Angeles.

New B773 Thursday services Auckland-Los Angeles (NZ6/5) between 21 - 28 Jun, 19 Jul – 27 Sep and 18 – 25 Oct 2012.
New B772 Saturday services Auckland-Los Angeles (NZ4/3) between 23 Jun – 07 Jul, 21 – 28 Jul, 01 – 29 Sep and 06 – 27 Oct 2012.

The early morning flight arrival time (10:15) in Los Angeles for the new Auckland-Los Angeles service (NZ4) will provide more connection opportunities to other points in the USA - complementing the existing two Saturday services.

For full details please refer to your GDS.

Excess Baggage Rate Increase - Shorthaul & Longhaul

(December 6, 2011) Air New Zealand wishes to advise that all Domestic, Tasman and Longhaul excess baggage charges will increase for bookings made after 12 December 2011 (LAX time) for travel from 17 January 2012.

Any travel booked & ticketed prior to the 12th of December (LAX time) for travel on or after 17 January will continue to qualify for the excess baggage allowance permitted at the time of purchase. This will apply to the entire journey for up to one year.

The table below shows the new excess baggage rates.

Standard baggage allowances apply. Excess baggage refers to baggage beyond the standard allowances.

Additional piece charge pp from US: US$70
(second additional bag US$200, third & fourth additional bag US$250 each)
Additional piece charge pp from CA: CA$70
(second additional bag CA$225, third & fourth additional bag CA$265 each)

Premium Economy Spaceseat Surcharge to SOPAC

In response to customer feedback, we have removed an entire row from the cabin, so now customers can enjoy even more space and up to 6" more leg room.

With immediate effect we are implementing the following surcharge on all Premium Economy published fares from US/CA/MX to Southwest Pacific:

$75 USD/CAD surcharge for each transpacific sector will be applicable to all 773 operated services with the Premium Economy Spaceseat (reduced from $150 USD/CAD as of 22MAY2012)

The surcharge will auto-price in your GDS and appear as a Q surcharge in the fare ladder and will be commissionable at your regular incentive level. Air New Zealand currently operates a daily 773 service on NZ1/NZ2 between Los Angeles and Auckland, and will progressively introduce additional 773 services on NZ5/6 between Los Angeles and Auckland starting in December 2011.

TSA Secure Flight Program

Secure flight is a program implemented by the TSA that enhances the security of domestic and international commercial air travel through the use of improved watch list matching. By collecting additional passenger data, it will improve the travel experience for all airline passengers, including those who have been misidentified in the past.

Before you are able to complete a booking with us, you will be required to enter the name, date of birth and gender for each traveling passenger. Agents who receive the DOCS pop-up should simply enter the required information as an SSR.

Name as it appears on government-issued I.D. when traveling
Date of Birth
Gender
Redress Number* (if available)

The airline will transmit this information to Secure Flight, who uses it to perform watch list matching. This serves to prevent individuals on the No Fly List from boarding an aircraft and to identify individuals on the Selectee List for enhanced screening. After matching passenger information against government watch lists, Secure Flight transmits the matching results back to airlines. For more information about the Secure Flight program please visit, www.tsa.gov/secureflight.

*A Redress Number is assigned by DHS to customers who believe they've been mistakenly matched to a name on the watch list to prevent misidentification.

Upgrade Economy PAX to Economy Skycouch™

Air New Zealand's new Economy Skycouch™ product is now on sale for travel from 1 April 2011 on 777-300 operated flights from Los Angeles to London & Auckland.

There are a total of 20 Economy Skycouches on each 777-300. To travel in an Economy Skycouch passenger(s) must upgrade their Economy Class ticket(s), and is only available if the Economy ticket(s) is issued on Air New Zealand (086) paper. An upgrade from an Economy ticket to an Economy Skycouch can be booked at anytime but is subject to availability of the Economy Skycouch at the time the upgrade is booked.

Travel Agents with customers that want to upgrade from Economy Class to an Economy Skycouch should follow this booking procedure. Please note: it is not possible to book an Economy Skycouch in your GDS at this time.

Book regular Economy seats in GDS for all pax in travelling party
Quote regular Economy seat price (including any child discount)
Ticket booking
Contact ANZ sales support at (800) 262 2468 and request upgrade availability and prices to Skycouch
ANZ will upgrade your ticketed booking and send you an e-ticket (revalidation showing additional collection)

The cost for the upgrade is dependent on the makeup of the passenger group and travel origin and destination.