Air New Zealand: Aussies and Kiwis lag Brits on carbon offsets

Air New Zealand has discovered customers in the UK are more than twice as likely to offset the carbon impact of their flights than those in Australia and New Zealand. Just under one in 10 journeys from the UK were offset compared to 7.2 percent from the US, 6 percent from Canada and 4.2 percent from Australia. READ: Inside La Compagnie's A321neo But more of the airline’s passengers have chosen to tick the carbon offset box in the past 12 months. This saw them offset 174,000 trips and 50,000 tonnes of carbon, up 34.5 percent on the previous financial year. The findings were among a number of fun facts collated by Kiwi carrier about its 2018-19 financial year operations. Air New Zealand operated 190,000 flights and its customer collectively flew 37.4 billion kilometres, with its most traveled passenger clocking 522,602 of those. Freddie Mercury biopic  Bohemian Rhapsody was the most watched film, seen 162, 215 times, but The Beatles retained the top music spot with 603,733 hits.

Beef Osso Bucco with caramelized onion provided the most popular of the 6.3 million inflight meals served by the airline, beating chicken linguine. Business Premier customers on NZ1 and NZ5 from Los Angeles to Auckland became the first to try the plant-based Impossible Burger during the year, munching their way through about 7,000 I burgers and 4,200 sliders. Among the other fun facts:

• Peter Gordon’s hapuka in light turmeric and fresh curry leaf sauce with petit pois and steamed lemongrass rice and his roasted chicken marbella on creamed corn and polenta were the most popular dishes in the airline’s premium cabins.
• The airline prepared 45,000 appetizers featuring Ngāti Porou’s Ahia smoked fish, giving travelers a taste of New Zealand’s Tairāwhiti region.
• Close to 5.8 million glasses of exclusively New Zealand wines were poured, with pinot noir eclipsing last year’s top tipple sauvignon blanc as the preferred drop.

The highest wi-fi uptake was on the day of the Christchurch shooting tragedy and the airline said this suggested the ability to stay in touch with loved ones was important in times of stress. The airline is watching trends closely as it introduces new Boeing 787-10 aircraft from late 2022 with new cabin products set to emerge its Hangar 22 secret design bunker. “Paying close attention to feedback ensures we’re delivering what customers really want,'' Air New Zealand chief marketing and customer officer Mark Tod said. "Right now every aspect of our onboard experience is under the microscope as we design the future cabin experience for our new long-haul fleet. “Air New Zealand’s warm Kiwi service has set the standard for airlines globally. Key to the product development underway at our Hangar 22 innovation centre in Auckland is scoping the technology, dining and entertainment options we’ll take forward to our new aircraft.”