Air New Zealand created a unique airborne Christmas celebration for passengers who would have otherwise missed the holiday entirely due to crossing the international date line.
Flight NZ-7, departing San Francisco on December 24, was transformed into a flying Christmas wonderland for more than 200 travelers who would have skipped straight to December 26 upon landing in Auckland due to the 12-hour journey across the date line.
The airline’s crew decorated the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s cabin with special illumination displays, creating a transitional atmosphere from a northern hemisphere winter Christmas to a summer celebration in New Zealand.
“Every detail was designed to bring the magic of Christmas to life, even at 30,000 feet,” said Air New Zealand Chief Executive Greg Foran. “It’s our way of spreading some Air New Zealand manaaki to one lucky flight full of festive travellers this year.”
Passengers were treated to a traditional Christmas dinner featuring turkey and sweet potato mash, followed by Christmas yule log for dessert. The airline also distributed commemorative gifts, including custom-designed Christmas tree ornaments and aircraft-shaped cookies.
Grace Blewitt from Air New Zealand explained that the initiative was inspired by the airline’s Christmas campaign, acknowledging that missing Christmas Day can dampen the festive spirit for traveling passengers.
The flight represents a creative solution to a unique challenge faced by travelers on trans-Pacific routes, where the international date line can cause passengers to technically “skip” calendar days during their journey. This particular flight path from San Francisco to Auckland regularly encounters this phenomenon, making it an ideal choice for the special celebration.
Air New Zealand, which was recently named 2024 World’s Safest Airline by AirlineRatings.com, operates a modern fleet with an average age of 8.7 years and served more than 16 million passengers in 2023.
Leave a comment