Air New Zealand Regional Lounges Go Gourmet 

Taste buds are firing on all cylinders as Air New Zealand launches a tasty new menu in its regional lounges. Cue the hot food.

Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says these changes are another way the airline is adding value for its customers.

“One of our most common pieces of regional lounge feedback is that our food offering isn’t the same as what’s enjoyed in our larger ports. That’s all about to change as we continue to look at how we can improve the Air New Zealand experience.

“Dunedin’s regional lounge was the first cab off the rank last week, delighting customers with new choices before they flew.”

On the menu was ginger soy chicken with capsicum and spring onion, and a vegan option of sweet and sour tofu with edamame and sesame. Dessert was a homemade chocolate gateau served with whipped cream. And customers shouldn’t worry, the crowd favourite cheese rolls are here to stay!

“While it’s only been live for a few days, the feedback so far has been overwhelming positive – our customers using the Dunedin lounge last week got a real surprise when they walked in to see the new menu on offer.”

The airline will be rolling out to Nelson later this week followed by Napier and expects to have the remaining five regional lounges up and running on the new menu in the New Year.

“In the past we haven’t been able to do this because our smaller regional ports don’t have kitchen facilities - only basic storage and reheating. To work around this, we’ve collaborated with our expert chefs in Wellington who prepare the food and we then use our cargo network to get the kai into the regional lounges just in time for the first flights out.”

The new regional lounge menu will feature a choice of two hot dishes – one of which will always be vegan, and both gluten free.

“We’re expecting favourites to likely be the black pepper braised lamb shoulder with baby carrots, cauliflower gratin, morello cherry tart with vanilla cream and fresh seasonal salads like beetroot and spinach, and broccoli and cranberry.”

The always popular Christmas menu will also be appearing across all our lounges between 19-25 December, including in our regional ports. This includes glazed ham, steamed asparagus, mini pavlovas with seasonal fruit, strawberries and cream and of course a Christmas mince pie to enjoy with your tea or coffee.

Last year the airline finished its $150 million Lounge rebrand programme, upgrading all nine of its regional lounges, including Queenstown. This included a rename to the Air New Zealand lounge.

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