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Wed, 8 Sep 2010
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AVIATION) ----- Air New Zealand has introduced four new inflight product options for customers on flights between New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands, while also slashing the cost of lead-in economy fares.
The new “Seats to Suit” options are on sale from September 7 provide a product choice of Seat, Seat + Bag, The Works and Works Deluxe.
Lowest lead-in ‘seat’ only fares to Australia start from $149 one way including taxes, while ‘The works’ option, which is exactly the same product and service as offered in economy now, but up to eight per cent cheaper.
A special 48 hour sale to launch the new products commenced this morning and has fares starting from just $109 one way.
“The four new ‘Seats to Suit’ options enable us to tailor each flight to our passengers’ needs. Customers can even choose one option for their outbound flight and another option for their return,” says John Whittaker, GM Australasia strategy.
“In addition, customers buying the new ‘Seat’ and ‘Seat + Bag’ options will continue to enjoy complimentary inflight entertainment and tea, coffee and water.”
An example of the new lead-in fare options:
The full roll-out of 'Seats to Suit' follows the successful completion of Air New Zealand’s trial of the four options on services between Christchurch and Sydney.
“The trial affirmed the conclusion we drew from our extensive customer research, which showed that customers have a range of needs for their travel depending on whether they are flying for business, leisure, for a short trip or a longer time away. The new options enable customers to choose the level of product that suits them for each leg of their journey,” says Whittaker.
The four new “Seats to Suit” options are in addition to the new streamlined check-in experience for passengers flying to Australia, which are now available at Auckland and Wellington International airports, with Queenstown and Christchurch airports to follow. The new self check-in kiosks have been introduced with the aim of halving the time it takes to check-in.
Passengers simply scan their machine-readable passports at a kiosk to be issued with a boarding pass, and bag tags if they are checking in luggage. Customers then take their bags to the ‘bag drop’ area, where Air New Zealand staff will scan the bag and check the passenger’s ID.
Air New Zealand’s four new options are available on its Airbus A320 services to Australia and the Pacific Islands. The four options are also available on board the airline’s Boeing 767, 777 and 747 Tasman and Pacific Island services, on which it will also will continue to offer business class.
But the Airbus A320 Tasman Pacific fleet is being standardised to one class with 171 seats, which equates to an additional capacity of six per cent on these services.
Air New Zealand’s new ‘Seats to Suit’ options are on sale today for flights from November 17 between New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands.
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