Air New Zealand celebrated 75 years of flying on Thursday with birthday festivities including a themed trans-Tasman flight and a surprise for Sydney Harbour City Ferry passengers.
Air New Zealand’s first ever service, onboard the Short S30 flying boat Aotearoa took nine hours to travel from Auckland to Sydney with just nine passengers on board.
In stark contrast the airline commemorated the first flight on the newest member of its fleet, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
The themed Auckland to Sydney service featured a 1940s themed menu, a mid-air fashion show of the airline’s uniforms through the decades and a few other surprises for customers including, of course, birthday cake.
Sydney ferry passengers traveling to the city from Rose Bay were treated to a trip down memory lane with the interior of Sydney’s iconic Lady Herron Ferry transformed to resemble a 1940s flying boat.
Air New Zealand cabin crew invited passengers to take their seats, complete with lap straps, while character actors recreated the 1940s flight experience and ‘The Starr Sisters’ provide 1940s style entertainment.
An exhibition highlighting the history of the airline will remain on the Lady Herron for one week where it will reach approximately 1,000 commuters per day.
The celebrations are the highlight of a year of activities to mark Air New Zealand’s 75th anniversary including a retrospective exhibition, commemorative stamps issued with New Zealand Post and a promotion in the UK which saw 75 lucky customers grab return fares to New Zealand for just 75 pounds.
Last Updated on May 1, 2015
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