Holidaymakers hop into an early Easter getaway

• 227,000 customers travelling over Easter weekend
• 790,000 customers travelling over the April school holidays
• Easter treats available in Air New Zealand lounges

Air New Zealand is gearing up for a chockablock period of travel, with more than a million customers expected to fly over Easter weekend and the April school holidays.

Easter will start even earlier this year for the 54,000 customers hopping onboard, which is set to be the busiest day for travel. Over the weekend, Air New Zealand will welcome 227,000 customers in total.

Most of these customers (147,000) will be making domestic trips, with the regions of Queenstown, Wānaka & Central Otago, Nelson-Tasman, and Hawke’s Bay emerging as the top destinations for a long weekend getaway.

The last day of the school term is Friday 12 April, which will be another busy day for travel. Air New Zealand will be welcoming around 52,000 customers onboard that day, and the same number again the following Friday.

Over the two-week period, Air New Zealand is expecting 790,000 customers in total (up 13 percent from the 2023 April school holidays) – 519,000 travelling within Aotearoa, and 271,000 jetting off to international destinations. The most popular overseas spots for the school holidays are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Singapore and Los Angeles.

Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says even though Easter and the school holidays are separate this year, customers are still making the most of both opportunities to travel.

“Easter is early this year, but we’re seeing plenty of appetite for travel, with many of our customers setting off on Thursday to maximise the long weekend. We’ll be sweetening things up by serving hot cross buns and Easter eggs in our lounges.

”With 227,000 customers travelling over the weekend, it will be busy, so we recommend allowing a little extra time at the airport to get through security. If your carry-on is filled to the brim with extra egg-shaped cargo, remember, you can always add a checked bag before you depart.

“Looking forward to the school holidays, our team will be working hard to ensure our customers receive the best flying experience – including the more than 4000 unaccompanied minors and 250 pets travelling with us during this time.”

About Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand’s story started in 1940, first taking to the skies between Auckland and Sydney on a flying boat - a Short S30. Known for its warm Kiwi hospitality, today, the airline has 104 operating aircraft ranging from Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and Airbus A320s to ATRs and Q300s, offering customers comfort in the latest most efficient jets and turboprops. It’s a modern fuel-efficient fleet with an average age of 7.3 years. Air New Zealand’s global network of passenger and cargo services centres around New Zealand. Pre-Covid, the airline flew more than 17 million passengers every year, with 3,400 flights per week. Air New Zealand was recently named the World’s Safest Airline by the Australian rating service AirlineRatings.com, highlighting the airline’s laser-focus on safety. Last year, Air New Zealand won Best Corporate Reputation in New Zealand – 8th year in a row.

Air New Zealand has a well-connected domestic business, connecting customers and cargo to 20 different regions around New Zealand. Internationally, the airline has direct flights to major cities across Australia, Asia, the Pacific Islands and the US, and through its strong relationships with alliance partners, offers customers more choice and convenience to connect further afield to hundreds of destinations. Air New Zealand has a particular focus on sustainability and its Sustainability Framework  helps guide the airline’s efforts in tackling some of New Zealand’s and the world’s most complex challenges. Air New Zealand aircraft are proudly identified by its distinct tail livery of the Mangōpare, the Māori symbol of the hammerhead shark which represents strength, tenacity, and resilience.

About Star Alliance

Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United. Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 18,500 daily flights to 1,321 airports in 193 countries.