Half A Million Kiwis Travelling Around Aotearoa This School Holidays

Well over half a million Kiwis are preparing to take to the skies this school holidays in what Air New Zealand is calling its busiest July break ever winter school holiday period.

Air New Zealand is preparing for a busy July, with the airline operating 670,000 seats and 7,500 flights across its domestic network as a record number of Kiwis travel around Aotearoa.

Queenstown is the number one destination for Air New Zealand customers, with 100,000 seats in and out of the picturesque destination. Regional hubs are booming with Nelson seeing 870 flights over the break, Napier (568 flights) and Tauranga (554 flights) also proving popular for adventure-hungry Kiwis.

Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says Air New Zealand crew are excited to roll out the welcome mat for thousands of families looking for a break.

"We've seen a 52% increase in seats for this year’s school holidays versus last year, when the July school holidays saw the release of pent-up demand for air travel following national lockdowns.

"We continue to see exceptional demand. Domestic sales are so strong for July school holidays that we are intending to operate 56% more domestic flights than the July 2020 school holidays.

"These numbers underscore the strength of Air New Zealand's domestic network, which is one of the best in the world, and the confidence Kiwi families have in getting out to explore this beautiful country of ours."

During the holiday period, Air New Zealand Lounges in the main ports will be serving child-friendly food, including cake pops and customer-favourite mac ‘n cheese. There will be a range of activities on offer to entertain our younger travelers.

Air New Zealand will also care for more than 7,000 children travelling unaccompanied around the network during the two-week period, with the help of the new Unaccompanied Minors Squad which is up and running across 13 airports this school holidays.

“Our teams are ready to help kickstart the winter break for customers no matter where they’re heading these holidays.”

Customers travelling over the school holidays should allow plenty of time to get to the airport and through security as it can take longer with extra winter gear, and the airline recommends customers book travel insurance particularly for domestic flights as the winter weather can be unpredictable.

Air New Zealand also recommends travellers download the Air New Zealand mobile app and subscribe to its Travel Alert service to keep up to date on the go.

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