Dec 26, 2017  -  Emirates is celebrating the fast-approaching new year with a range of low Hello 2018 return fares from New Zealand to the regions around its network, including UK, Europe and Africa from $1,599 return and Australia from $469 return. The special Economy Class fares apply to various travel periods in 2018 and are on sale until January 16. Flights from Auckland to Melbourne and Brisbane are available from $469 return and from Christchurch to Sydney for $489 return. "The Hello 2018 fares are particularly attractive, especially for our many customers who appreciate the range of 39 Emirates…

Dec 22, 2017  -   Air New Zealand is turning to technology to tackle the language barriers that often arise during travel.  The airline is one of the first corporates globally to trial a customer service use case for Google’s wireless Bluetooth Pixel Buds headphones which enable live translation of 40 languages via Google’s Pixel handset. Air New Zealand Chief Digital Officer Avi Golan says the airline has a number of multi-lingual employees but naturally there are times when the relevant language speaker may not be on hand and technology could play a pivotal role in those moments. “We operate…

 Dec 12, 2017  - A long-haul A380 pilot has created a superb landing video, which should help ease any jitters passengers or potential travellers may have about flying.  British Airways captain Dave Wallsworth shares the awe-inspiring view from the flight deck as he and senior first officers Jeremy Goodson and Phil Gillespie talk with with air traffic control and bring one of the airline’s A380 aircraft in for a textbook landing in Johannesburg. The A380 captain posted the clip onto his YouTube channel last week. The video, which lasts 13 minutes, talks viewers through the landing, “demystifying” it by explaining…

Dec 11, 2017  -  Just a matter of months after Qantas CEO Alan Joyce announced a new long-haul flight ambition, the national carrier is one step closer to realising its goals. Back in August, upon announcing the mammoth $1.4 billion profit for FY17, Joyce revealed what he called ‘Project Sunrise’, which challenged Boeing and Airbus to deliver aircraft capable of direct flights from Sydney to London, Brisbane to Paris, and Melbourne to New York. “From next year, we’ll be flying direct from Perth to London. So the time is right to set ourselves a new challenge. To chase a new…

Dec 11, 2017  -  Air New Zealand has leased two aircraft to help maintain its timetable during the unscheduled maintenance of some Rolls-Royce engines on its 787-9 fleet.  The Airbus 330 and Airbus 340 are being chartered from European company Hi Fly. They are expected to begin operating some Auckland-Sydney and all Auckland-Perth services by next week. Air New Zealand General Manager Customer Experience Anita Hawthorne says the airline is working hard to minimise the impact on customers caused by the unscheduled Rolls-Royce engine maintenance. “Unfortunately, around 4,500 customers have been affected by international flight delays and a small number…

Dec 7, 2017 - Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines today announced they will jointly launch a third daily flight between Auckland and Singapore from 28 October 2018, boosting capacity on the route by up to 40 percent and adding more than 165,000 seats annually between the two cities. The additional service, along with a revision of current schedules, will shorten connection times and improve connectivity through the Singapore hub. The new service will operate daily during the peak Northern Winter season (28 October 2018 – 30 March 2019), and five times per week during the Northern Summer season (31…