Air New Zealand has teamed up with American actors Katie Holmes and Cuba Gooding Jr. for its latest safety video A Fantastical Journey. The video is an Alice in Wonderland inspired adventure featuring a number of iconic locations throughout New Zealand including the Southern Alps, Otago – including Dunedin and the Moeraki Boulders, the Conway River in Canterbury, Wellington, Mt Taranaki, Waitomo Caves, Rotorua, Cathedral Cove in the Coromandel, Tolaga Bay north of Gisborne, White Island and the Auckland Harbour Bridge. New Zealand singer and songwriter Gin Wigmore has also recorded her own unique version of the song ‘My Little Corner of the World’ as the backing track for A Fantastical Journey. Katie Holmes says it’s been fun working alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and the Air New Zealand crew to produce A Fantastical Journey. “I was really excited to be a part of this project – the safety video is creative, magical and funny. The scenery is also beautiful and makes me want to get down to New Zealand!” Cuba Gooding Jr. says he wanted to get involved in Air New Zealand’s latest safety video as he does a lot of travelling and loves the fun and different approach. “They make you laugh, smile and pay a little bit more attention. I’ve also enjoyed working with Katie Holmes and Kiwi artist Gin Wigmore – her voice is enchanting and soothing, exactly what you need for safety video!” Air New Zealand General Manager of Global Brand and Content Marketing Jodi Williams says A Fantastical Journey will put all eyes on New Zealand by showcasing some of the best the country has to offer. “With the help of Hollywood stars Katie Holmes and Cuba Gooding Jr. our latest safety video takes viewers on a journey taking in New Zealand’s stunning beauty, incredible culture, friendly people and amazing flora and fauna, while also sharing the airline’s key safety messages. “We’ve taken a different approach creatively with our latest safety video, working closely with our creative agency True, and Auckland-based production company Assembly throughout the process on the special effects to help take people on a magical tour of the country.” Gin Wigmore says she’s loved teaming up with Air New Zealand again after first working with the company on its first creative safety video the ‘Bare Essentials’ in 2009 which featured the hit ‘Under My Skin’ from her first album and then again more recently to record a version of the track ‘Tomorrow’ from the movie Annie for the airline’s Where To Next? campaign. “I feel privileged to record my own version of ‘My Little Corner of the World’ as it’s always a good challenge to re-produce a song, especially when it’s already so great. It’s also fantastic to see this track feature amongst some stunning New Zealand scenery, including my little corner of the world – the Coromandel.” Air New Zealand’s safety videos have collectively generated more than 108 million views online to date along with significant international media exposure including the likes of CNN, BBC and the Daily Mail. A Fantastical Journey will be rolled out across the airline’s fleet from today and can be viewed online here.
Turning up to the airport with an expired passport will be a thing of the past for Air New Zealand customers, with the airline’s mobile app now able to scan and save passport information and send a timely reminder when it’s time to renew.
Every month around 550 customers turn up to the airport with an expired passport, triggering a stressful situation for would be travellers.
Air New Zealand customers can now save themselves the stress and embarrassment by using their smartphone camera to capture and save their passport details. Not only will this streamline their check-in experience, it also triggers expiry reminders including providing handy click through links to renew New Zealand, Australian, British and American passports.
Currently around 10 percent of Air New Zealand customers type their passport details incorrectly as they check in online. By saving these to their profile, customers will enjoy a smoother experience and rest easy in the knowledge that their travel document has been entered correctly.
Air New Zealand’s Chief Digital Officer Avi Golan says customer feedback is driving the rollout of time-saving tools such as this and customers can look forward to an increasingly smarter digital travel experience – not just on the day of travel but in the dreaming and planning phase.
“Customers consistently tell us time is the biggest stress factor when travelling, so prioritising features that offer genuine benefits and convenience on the go is key.
“Integrating smartphone camera technology to our app paves the way for adding secure credit card scanning to our booking system, as well as longer term developments such as selfie-boarding - using biometrics and facial recognition to verify customers at the gate.”
The Air New Zealand mobile app has been downloaded by 1.3 million people. Earlier this year the popular coffee ordering function clocked up two million orders.
| An Air New Zealand release || July 7, 2017 |||
American Airlines is none too happy about Qatar Airways’ offer to buy a stake in the business, saying it was “unsolicited”.
According to Sky News, Qatar CEO Akbar Al-Baker told American CEO Doug Parker that he wants to acquire about 10 per cent of the airline’s stock, which would cost about $US2.4 billion ($AU3.2 billion).
Qatar said it plans to buy an initial stake of up to 4.75 per cent of American’s stock, before expanding to the full 10.
But Parker was not enthused with the gesture, and expressed this in a memo to staff.
“We aren’t particularly excited about Qatar’s outreach,” the CEO wrote.
“If anything, this development strengthens our resolve to ensure the US government enforces its trade agreements regarding fair competition with Gulf carriers,”
US carriers and Gulf carriers have been notoriously embroiled in a battle for years, with the Big Three US carriers – Delta, American and United – claiming the Gulf carriers of Qatar, Emirates and Etihad receive billions of dollars in unfair state subsidies from the government, which the Gulf carriers deny.
American, along with Delta and United, has pressured the US government to curb US flights by Gulf carriers, including Qatar, in the past, making this gesture from Qatar Airways rather surprising.
Qatar is in its own battle right now with neighbouring states as well as Etihad and Emirates, with Qatar travel banned in countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain. The slim piece of airspace Qatar has left has impinged on its ability to fly its usual routes, however the carrier has fought back and launched a bunch of new destinations and a cheeky border-themed ad.
According to Sky News, Al-Baker and Parker met in secret in early June at an airline-industry conference in the Mexican resort town of Cancun.
Al-Baker is also known for making bold moves like this, having also bought into other airlines, including the parent of British Airways, a close partner of American Airlines.
According to Reuters, in his letter, American CEO Parker promised to continue American’s “full court press ... to stand up to companies that are illegally subsidized by their governments.”
He also said he found Qatar Airways’ proposed investment “puzzling given our extremely public stance on the illegal subsidies that Qatar, Emirates and Etihad have all received over the years from their governments.”
Qatar Airways responded on Twitter, saying, “We are glad to see American Airlines’ CEO Doug Parker’s perspective that he agrees with Qatar Airways’ belief that American Airlines is a solid financial investment.”
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways is one of the airlines targeted by the US in the laptop ban, along with Gulf rivals Emirates and Etihad, that prevents passengers bringing their laptops and large electronic devices onboard flights, citing security risks.
| A Travel Weekly release || June 23, 2017 |||
It is becoming more and more evident that airlines must embrace technological innovations and digital channels to better communicate with their customers, and also to increase their onboard ancillary revenues.
One airline that is clearly committed to boosting its ancillary revenues, while taking advantage of the opportunities provided by digital developments, is Air New Zealand.
In an interview with FTE, Dianne Parry-Ernst, Manager Direct Ancillary Revenue, Commercial, Air New Zealand, outlines the airline’s proactive attempts to integrate the digital world into its ancillary and passenger communication strategy. “We have been examining the customer journey to identify stages where ancillary products have a limited presence and strengthening the retailing approach at these key points in order to increase customer awareness and offer customers the right product at the right time, via their preferred platform,” says Parry-Ernst.
For instance, in February the airline launched its own artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, Bravo Oscar Tango – Oscar for short – to improve customer communication. “We are also reviewing our customer communications, including content or help-based communications such as Oscar our bot, and when appropriate providing a path to purchase ancillaries,” Parry-Ernst adds.Connectivity, pricing, distribution platforms and personalisation
While more traditional onboard sales channels hold little growth potential, Air New Zealand truly realises the benefits of a more digital approach. Ernst explains: “Connectivity, pricing and distribution platforms, along with personalisation, will be key to optimising in-flight ancillary sales. Digital developments enable customers to take advantage of the on-demand economy. Uber has a host of products developed to cater to this increasing societal trend.
“The on-demand customer segment is growing and these customers are increasingly making travel choices closer to departure as the digital ecosystem enables them to do so. Onboard last minute, personalised ancillary sales meet this growing customer need and in-flight Wi-Fi provides connectivity to the airline’s pricing and distribution systems, enabling real-time sales and fulfilment of in-flight ancillary.”
With Wi-Fi being available onboard, this opens more opportunities for airlines to offer targeted content and products to passengers. Indeed, some airlines have even expressed a desire to become the “Amazon of air travel”, by creating a platform for passengers to book not only flights, but also hotels, onward travel tickets, destination experiences and more relevant services.
Ernst highlights three key components when speaking about what shapes a successful “Amazon of air travel” experience: “Customer awareness and the airline’s positioning in the market, the airline’s ability to personalise the booking process and access to capital, partnerships and the organisational structure, and capability required to launch and sustain such initiatives.” She adds: “A few airlines have strong regional travel ecosystems and are accomplished travel retailers, however in the case of an “Amazon of travel”, consideration should be given to the global marketplace where the principal competition is likely to be the likes of Google, Facebook, and Uber, which are already taking action as they know they have a competitive advantage with customer reach, data and trust.”
Naturally, platforms such as Airbnb and Google can be seen as potential competition to the airline industry. However, Ernst believes that “given Airbnb and Google’s global reach, existing customer data, customer trust, and capability to innovate and transform, smart partnership strategies where each party brings benefits to the table are likely to create the most successful, customer-focused outcomes”.
Air New Zealand, indeed, offers customers a travel experience beyond flight and in-flight ancillaries, which includes a mix of accommodation, ground transport and destination experiences.
| A FutureTravelExperience release || June 21, 2017 |||
Lufthansa Group will now enable secure and simple payments at the check-in counter, by introducing Amadeus Airport Pay. The new service, developed by Amadeus and Ingenico, will be available at more than 170 airports around the world.
Customers will be able to pay for ancillary services, such as excess baggage, with credit or debit cards, girocard payments and compatible digital wallets. Additionally, airline staff is able to initiate compensation payments using Amadeus Airprot Pay, for instance in case a passenger voluntary steps back from an overbooked flight.
“To bring secure and seamless payment options to our passengers to ease their individual and seamless travel experience is a core objective for Lufthansa Group,” says Kai Schilb, Head of Payment at Lufthansa Group Hub Airlines. “Amadeus Airport Pay enables our travellers to choose customised ancillary services for their flight while checking in or at the gate – securely and with a variety of payment options, and without the need for detours.”
The standard used by Amadeus Airport Pay solution is also fully compatible with PCI-DSS, a series of security standards defined by the payment card industry. By using a PIN method for the cards, fraud is prevented during the payment process.
Philipp Vetten, Head of IT Payment Projects at Lufthansa Group Hub Airlines, adds: “Besides, as an IT solution, Amadeus Airport Pay gives the Lufthansa Group full control over its payment infrastructure by enabling bilateral connections with a wide range of payment providers. We look forward to bringing this service to our airport check-in desks and ticket offices in more than 170 airports very soon.”
| A Lufthansa release || June 14, 2017 |||
Like the Chicago Cubs who endured decades of “wait until next year,” credibly both Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic should be positioned to fly paying passengers in late 2018. How will a successful commercial flight impact the economics of space tourism? What is the demand for such flights?
One key question for the space tourism industry is will there be repeat flyers? That is, until space tourism is a destination-based business (e.g. flights to a private space station or to the moon) will flyers pay to fly more than once after they have earned their astronaut wings? The answer to this is likely very dependent on the experience itself. If it can be enjoyed as a group experience with friends, families, coworkers, etc., it is more likely that there will be repeat flyers. This would bode well for capsule-oriented travel such as Blue Origin is offering and the high-altitude balloon vehicle offered by WorldView (in which I am an investor), but might be less conducive to Virgin Galactic. Without repeat flyers, however, the demand could rapidly wane after the initial early adopters have flown and the novelty has worn off.
Sponsorships
The case for sponsorships in commercial spaceflight is compelling and could dramatically impact the economics of space tourism. Global brands are looking for fresh, new ways to position themselves on the leading edge of their categories. Heineken and Red Bull have been the most prominent space backers to date, but once space tourism is more frequent, safe and mainstream, I would expect dramatically more sponsorships dollars to flow into the category, both to the operators and to a limited number of celebrity astronauts. With an average Fortune 500 marketing budget in the $50 million range, sponsorships could be a needle mover for the economics of the category and could ultimately be more lucrative than the ticket sales themselves.
Destination-based travel
The primary economic driver of space tourism in the long term, however, will be destination-based tourism. This remains a chicken-and-egg problem; the viability of a private space station, for example, is greatly enhanced by space tourism, but a private space station isn’t viable without reliable and economical passenger transport. And reliable and economical transport requires tourist demand predicated on viable destinations. Consequently, I would expect 2018 and 2019 to be almost exclusively suborbital travel until either new vehicles come on line that are more economical, destinations such as Axiom’s private space station materialize, or a combination of both. Certainly, SpaceX’s announced circumlunar trip could be the most significant space tourism mission to date, but at rumored $100 million-plus price tag, the demand for such missions remains very limited.
On the horizon
In addition to the vehicles currently known, the holy grail of commercial spaceflight remains a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) reusable spaceplane. While many believe that this is a practical impossibility given the laws of physics, others claim advances in materials, propulsion and design allow this to be at least theoretically possible. If a vehicle were to emerge that could provide SSTO reusability, it would transform space tourism as we know it.
The bottom line is 2018 should finally be the year where we see the early stages of broad-based commercial space tourism appear. Demand will certainly be driven by the early successes or failures of those missions, the marketing of those missions, as well as the propensity for tourists to become repeat flyers. I would expect the early success to lead to a broader flow of investment into space tourism as a category with a directional push towards sustainable, destination-based space tourism in the early 2020s.
Auckland Airport will this evening welcome the first Sichuan Airlines flight direct from Chengdu, China. The new 13-hour direct service provides a seventh direct connection from Auckland Airport to a major Chinese city, and is the first to connect New Zealand directly to south west China.
While the Sichuan Province is traditionally famed for its dramatic landscape, spicy cuisine and for being home to the Giant Panda, its capital, Chengdu, is very much its modern face. Scott Tasker, Auckland Airport’s acting general manager – aeronautical commercial, says this first service to one of China’s major western centres is significant for both trade and tourism.
“Home to some 14.5 million people, Chengdu is one of western China’s most important economic centres and a key transportation hub. Therefore in addition to providing a unique cultural tourism opportunity for New Zealanders, this new route will open New Zealand to a broad new audience of Chinese travellers and support trade links between the two countries.”
“New Zealand now exports over $12 billion worth of goods and services to China a year, making it our second largest trading partner after Australia. The increased cargo capacity that Sichuan Airlines will provide between Chengdu and Auckland will enable further growth in the trade of high value goods between New Zealand and China,” says Mr Tasker.
In terms of tourism, the new service will add 81,000 seats a year to and from China, worth an estimated $102 million to the New Zealand economy.
Founded in 1986, Sichuan Airlines currently operates more than 240 routes, including long-haul services to Australia, Europe, Canada and the United States. This new Auckland route will be its longest direct flight yet, with the A330-200 featuring 24 business class flat-bed seats.
Whatever class of travel passengers choose, Sichuan’s General Manager for New Zealand, JC Shi, says they can expect to be thrilled by the authentic in-flight service.
“Sichuan cuisine is one of China’s four big cuisines, therefore we are delighted to bring the Sichuan flavour into the cabin. Authentic dishes such as hot pot, firewood chicken and barrel fish will be sure to delight and awaken the senses of first time visitors on board,” says Mr Shi.
The new direct service will operate year-round three times a week between Auckland Airport and China’s fifth busiest airport, Chengdu Shuangliu, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Tonight’s inaugural flight is scheduled to arrive at 6.45pm.
| An Auckland Airport release || June 13, 2017 |||
Auckland is set to welcome Sichuan Airlines’ inaugural flight from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in southwest China later today, Transport Minister Simon Bridges says.
Sichuan Airlines will operate three direct flights per week between Auckland and Chengdu.
"New Zealand is in a strong position to attract airlines, with a liberal international air transport policy that allows most major airlines to operate services to New Zealand without restriction," Mr Bridges says.
"We have negotiated 60 new or amended air services agreements since 2012, and in that time period, the number of services Chinese airlines can offer each week under arrangements between our countries has risen from 7 to 59.
"New Zealand is an increasingly popular tourist destination for Chinese visitors. In the year ended March 2017, 404,384 Chinese visitors came here an increase of seven percent on the year before. Visitors from China spent NZ$1.45 billion, second only to the spending by visitors from Australia.
"This new Sichuan Airlines service is a reflection of the growing trade and tourism links between China and New Zealand, and it raises the number of airlines now operating from China to New Zealand from five to six.
"It’s great to see New Zealand further expanding its international connectivity, allowing people to get to and from Chinese provinces with greater ease. It is also a testament to the success of our International Air Transport Policy, which provides additional opportunities for these airlines," Mr Bridges says.
New Zealand based travel sellers can now promote their specialist country knowledge in the same way as their international counterparts, thanks to changes Tourism New Zealand has made to its trade training programme.
The 100% Pure New Zealand Specialist Programme improves travel sellers' knowledge of New Zealand through a series of training opportunities.
As a result, specialists have the knowledge needed to build 'must do' holiday itineraries.
To become a 100 % Pure New Zealand Specialist (New Zealand Based) travel sellers only need to complete 10 of the programme's online learning modules.
'Becoming a 100% Pure New Zealand Specialist gives travel sellers credibility with clients,' says René de Monchy, Director of Trade, PR and Major Events at Tourism New Zealand.
'Specialists are able to use and display the programme's logo which is recognised by overseas visitors due to Tourism New Zealand's offshore marketing activity.'
The introduction of the New Zealand based status is just one of the programme's new improvements that aim to increase the number of specialists globally.
The other main improvement is the introduction of a Gold, Silver and Bronze tier structure for international travel sellers, with different criteria, incentives and benefits for each tier. The tier structure is not applicable to New Zealand based travel sellers.
'We've made these changes based on feedback from current specialists and I am excited to extend the programme to New Zealand travel sellers,' says René.
More information about the 100% Pure New Zealand Specialist Programme can be found on http://www.traveltrade.newzealand.com/.
| A Tourism New Zealand release || June 13, 2017 |||
Emirates has partnered with BMW Group to provide a fleet of luxury automobiles for its complimentary Chauffeur-drive service for Business Class passengers in the UAE.
The new fleet, featuring BMW 520i Touring cars, is being rolled out progressively from now until the end of the year, as the previous fleet of cars is retired.
This fleet upgrade is part of Emirates’ ongoing investment in product and service both on the ground and on board. Emirates’ Chauffeur-drive service is a complimentary ground transfer service available to customers travelling in First or Business class, whisking customers to and from the airport for a seamless travel experience. The service is available in over 75 Emirates destinations worldwide.
The service complements Emirates’ worldwide lounge offering with seven located in Dubai International Airport’s concourses A, B and C, and 34 dedicated Emirates Lounges in other major airports across the globe. The airline recently introduced “pay-per-visit” lounge access, enabling Emirates Skywards members and their guests travelling on Emirates to enjoy the airline’s First and Business Class lounges at Dubai International Airport and abroad.
To complete the Emirates premium travel experience, new features have also been introduced on board. This includes the world’s first moisturising lounge wear in First Class, luxury blankets, skincare from organic brand VOYA and a new range of amenity kits from Bulgari.
| An Emirates release || June 9, 2017 ||||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242