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Air New Zealand is gearing up for a chockablock period of travel, with more than a million customers expected to fly over Easter weekend and the April school holidays.
Easter will start even earlier this year for the 54,000 customers hopping onboard on Thursday, March 28, which is set to be the busiest day for travel. Over the weekend, Air New Zealand will welcome 227,000 customers in total.
Most of these customers (147,000) will be making domestic trips, with the regions of Queenstown, Wānaka and Central Otago, Nelson-Tasman, and Hawke’s Bay emerging as the top destinations for a long weekend getaway.
The last day of the school term is Friday, April 12, which will be another busy day for travel. Air New Zealand will be welcoming around 52,000 customers onboard that day, and the same number again the following Friday.
Over the two-week period, Air New Zealand is expecting 790,000 customers in total (up 13 per cent from the 2023 April school holidays) – 519,000 travelling within Aotearoa, and 271,000 jetting off to international destinations. The most popular overseas spots for the school holidays are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Singapore and Los Angeles.
Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty says even though Easter and the school holidays are separate this year, customers are still making the most of both opportunities to travel.
“Easter is early this year, but we’re seeing plenty of appetite for travel, with many of our customers setting off on Thursday to maximise the long weekend. We’ll be sweetening things up by serving hot cross buns and Easter eggs in our lounges.
“With 227,000 customers travelling over the weekend, it will be busy, so we recommend allowing a little extra time at the airport to get through security. If your carry-on is filled to the brim with extra egg-shaped cargo, remember, you can always add a checked bag before you depart.
“Looking forward to the school holidays, our team will be working hard to ensure our customers receive the best flying experience – including the more than 4000 unaccompanied minors and 250 pets travelling with us during this time.”
