Travellers Generous In Tsunami Aid

Travellers Generous In Tsunami Aid

Saturday 3 October 2009.

New Zealand travellers are giving generously to assist the people of Samoa and Tonga, Pacific Blue Airlines said today.

Pacific Blue, along with partner airline Polynesian Blue, began accepting on-board donations on Thursday and said it has been heartening to see the level of support.

“Travellers are being very generous and on several flights to date we have collected more than $1,000 per flight,“ said the airline’s General Manager Commercial, Adrian Hamilton-Manns.

“It’s very is rewarding to see and shows the extent of the special relationship that New Zealanders and Australians have with our South Pacific neighbours.”
All funds collected are being passed to Westpac, which is an official collection agency for tsunami relief donations.

The airline said it had also received a very positive response to its call for people to drop off donations of blankets, clothing and tinned food at its airport check-in desks.

“We’ve had inquiries from groups and individuals in a number of cities throughout New Zealand and Australia who are organising donations and will be dropping them off at our airport counters so we can transport the goods to Samoa for distribution by the government or aid organisations in Apia,” Mr Hamilton-Manns said.

Polynesian Blue was adding an extra flight to its schedule from New Zealand this weekend, with two flights from Auckland to Apia now due to operate on Sunday. The airline would look to add further flights if there was demand.

The airline has also offered its support to the official New Zealand government aid agency to fly relief workers to Samoa or to transport freight if required.

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