Air New Zealand's 2024 in review: Pilot cadets, penguins, and points galore
Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran says it was another monumental year for the airline.
"We'd like to thank everyone who travelled with us in 2024, and extend a special acknowledgement to our incredible team of Air New Zealanders for their dedication and hard work. Their professionalism and grit kept the airline moving, even while navigating significant challenges such as ongoing engine availability issues.
"Despite these hurdles, we achieved major milestones, including sending our first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner up to Singapore for a state-of-the-art interior retrofit. We can't wait to welcome our customers into these new cabins in 2025," says Foran.
Milestones achieved in 2024
Safety video sensation: The airline's 23rd safety video, Every Point Counts, featuring Kiwi basketball star Steven Adams, was released in November and became an instant hit, amassing 30.4 million views globally.
Airpoints boom: Airpoints membership soared in 2024, with 414,000 new members joining, bringing the total to 4.8 million. Nearly 300,000 items were sold on the Airpoints Store, with the Huski Beer Cooler emerging as the most popular product.
Travel trends: Auckland to Sydney was the most popular short-haul route, while Auckland to Singapore topped long-haul travel. Bali continued to dominate as a holiday hotspot, with Air New Zealand expanding its service to a year-round schedule.
Customer connections: The introduction of Live Chat offered a new way for customers to get in touch, resulting in 265,936 engagements.
Pilot cadets: The Mangōpare Air New Zealand Pilot Cadetship received more than 2000 applications for its inaugural intake, with 30 cadets selected to begin their training journey.
Behind the scenes
Engine legends: Air New Zealand's engineering team clocked 1.2 million hours maintaining the fleet, completing 88 engine changes to keep aircraft flying safely.
Cargo highlights: The airline transported 130.9 million kilograms of cargo - fresh produce, meat and seafood were the top categories, including 1.9 million kilograms of asparagus, 1.7 million kilograms of lobster, and 880,000 kilograms of blueberries.
Furry and feathered friends: Among the 19,444 animals carried were 9148 dogs, 4369 cats, 19 kiwi, 17 ducks, 10 geese, 7 penguins, 2 owls and 1 kea. Air New Zealand also welcomed two Tasmanian devils travelling across the Tasman.
Onboard and lounges
Meals and treats: Crew served 5.7 million meals (ex New Zealand) and handed out 3.8 million cookies and 17.5 million Air New Zealand lollies - including a new red and white striped candy cane-flavoured lolly, introduced for the holiday season.
Preferred seats: Window seats were the top choice across all aircraft types. Seat 2A was the most coveted, except on ATR-72 aircraft used for domestic services, where 16A was the favourite due to rear boarding.
Lounge luxuries: Customers spent an average of 106 minutes relaxing in Air New Zealand lounges before international flights. Mango chili margaritas and espresso martinis were the most popular pre-departure cocktails.
Looking ahead
As Air New Zealand prepares to celebrate its 85th birthday in April, Foran says the airline remains deeply committed to connecting New Zealanders with each other and New Zealand to the world.
"Here's to building on this legacy and achieving many more milestones in the years ahead."
ENDS
Issued by Air New Zealand Communications
Email: media@airnz.co.nz │ Phone: +64 21 747 320
About Air New Zealand:
Air New Zealand's story started in 1940, first taking to the skies between Auckland and Sydney on a flying boat - a Short S30. Known for its warm Kiwi hospitality, today, the airline has operating aircraft ranging from Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and Airbus A320s to ATRs and Q300s, offering customers comfort in the latest most efficient jets and turboprops. It's a modern fuel-efficient fleet with an average age of 8.7 years. Air New Zealand's global network of passenger and cargo services centres around New Zealand. In 2023, the airline flew more than 16 million passengers. Air New Zealand was named 2024 World's Safest Airline by the Australian rating service AirlineRatings.com, highlighting the airline's laser-focus on safety and won Best Corporate Reputation in New Zealand in 2023 – the 9th year in a row.
Air New Zealand has a well-connected domestic business, connecting customers and cargo to 20 different regions around New Zealand. Internationally, the airline has direct flights to major cities across Australia, Asia, the Pacific Islands and the US, and through its strong relationships with alliance partners, offers customers more choice and convenience to connect further afield to hundreds of destinations. Air New Zealand has a particular focus on sustainability and its Sustainability Framework helps guide the airline's efforts in tackling some of New Zealand's and the world's most complex challenges. Airpoints, Air New Zealand's loyalty programme, is seen as the most valuable loyalty programme in New Zealand with more than 4 million members. It allows members to earn Airpoints Dollars™ and Status Points for VIP benefits in the air and on the ground. Air New Zealand aircraft are proudly identified by its distinct tail livery of the Mangōpare, the Māori symbol of the hammerhead shark which represents strength, tenacity, and resilience.
About Star Alliance
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance, based on a customer value proposition of global reach, worldwide recognition and seamless service. Since inception, it has offered the largest and most comprehensive airline network, with a focus on improving customer experience across the Alliance journey.
The member airlines are: Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Air Portugal, THAI, Turkish Airlines, and United.
Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 16,000 daily flights to almost 1,200 airports in 186 countries. Further connecting flights are offered by Star Alliance Connecting Partners Juneyao Airlines and THAI Smile Airways.
For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com