Air New Zealand CEO meets US Secretary of Transport

Media release

8 March 2017

Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon meets US Secretary of Transport

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon is today in Washington DC where he met with United States Secretary of Transport Elaine Chao, a member of President Trump’s Cabinet.

Mr Luxon also met senior officials in the Transport Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.

The meetings were an opportunity to identify the importance of the United States as a source market for visitors to New Zealand and as a destination for New Zealand travellers. United States visitors to New Zealand are up 19.8%, with almost 300,000 visitors arriving in the year to January 2017. The success of Air New Zealand’s new Houston service, which makes travel easier for visitors from the mid-west, east and south of the United States is a key factor in this growth.

Today’s high level meetings were also an opportunity for Air New Zealand to seek improvements to its customers’ experience in US airports. Particularly, the airline is seeking a streamlined process for its passengers transiting Los Angeles (LAX) to London on NZ1.

“Air New Zealand is one of only a very few airlines that have an international transit in the United States like NZ1. We think there’s room for an improved process that would benefit customers without compromising security, and would also reflect well on LAX as a major hub airport,” says Mr Luxon.

“It was a privilege to meet Secretary Chao today and to seek her sponsorship for our efforts. We are grateful to New Zealand’s United States Ambassador Tim Groser and his embassy team in Washington DC for facilitating today’s meetings. A great example of New Zealand punching above its weight on the international stage.”

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