New Business Premier and Business Premier Luxe suites will be available this year
IAN STALKER
Air New Zealand will later this year launch its latest service for those making the journey across the Pacific from Vancouver to Auckland.
Airline national account manager Katie Olsson told a recent Toronto gathering that late 2024 will see Business Premier Luxe service made available, one of several options the carrier is offering those departing from Vancouver.
The upcoming service will have “so much space, so much privacy,” Olsson told the audience, adding that Business Premier Luxe will appeal to those “looking for something really top-notch.”
Among features will be a “fantastic” 24-inch screen to watch movies on, she continued.
Air New Zealand has daily Vancouver-Auckland flights during the current high season and five weekly flights during shoulder season.
Air New Zealand now serves over 20 domestic destinations and 80 global ones, including others in the South Pacific.
“We might be a small country but you can get anywhere from New Zealand,” Olsson said.
The airline has some 96 planes and works with Air Canada, WestJet and Porter.
Airline manager, the Americas, Ben Evers-Swindell told the same gathering that Air New Zealand passengers will find their crews particularly friendly.
“They’re very good with interacting with you,” he said. “That’s what sets us apart.”
Meanwhile, Sebastien Delteil, director of sales at the Park Hyatt Auckland told the event that his newish hotel has 195 rooms, all providing “fantastic” views of the harbour.
Geraldine McMillan of tour company Real NZ in turn used the event to put in a plug for New Zealand’s Stewart Island, which she labelled the “Galapagos of the South Pacific… It is really a nature-lover’s paradise,” she said of an island known for both seabirds and marine mammals.
Real NZ reports that, “Most of Stewart Island’s lush forest, rocky coastlines and creamy golden sand beaches are protected within the Rakiura National Park, which makes up a huge 85% of the island.
This makes the secluded island one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s ultimate eco-tourism destinations and a real adventure in nature.
Stewart Island can be reached by ferry.
Other offerings for Real NZ clients include rafting, which McMillan said is ideal if “You want to get your adrenaline pumping,” and visits to Milford Sound, praised by author Rudyard Kipling for its dramatic scenery.
Evers-Swindell also touted New Zealand’s scenic side, citing its “absolutely stunning natural environment.”
