The new "Seats to Suit" options are on sale today providing product choice of Seat, Seat + Bag, The Works and Works Deluxe. Lowest lead-in 'Seat' only fares to Australia start from $149 one way including taxes, while 'The Works' option, which is exactly the same product and service as you receive in economy today, is now up to 8% cheaper.

A special 48 hour sale to launch the new products commenced this morning and has fares starting from just $109 one way.

"The four new 'Seats to Suit' options enable us to tailor each flight to our passengers' needs. Customers can even choose one option for their outbound flight and another option for their return," says John Whittaker, General Manager Australasia Strategy.

"In addition, customers buying the new 'Seat' and 'Seat + Bag' options will continue to enjoy complimentary inflight entertainment and tea, coffee and water."

An example of the new lead-in fare options:

  Seat. Seat + Bag. The Works. Works Deluxe.
Auckland-Melbourne
(one way, including taxes)		 $169 $189 $219 $299
Compared to previous lead-in Economy fare - 29% - 17% - 8% n/a


The full roll-out of "Seats to Suit" follows the successful completion of Air New Zealand's trial of the four options on services between Christchurch and Sydney.

"The trial affirmed the conclusion we drew from our extensive customer research, which showed that customers have a range of needs for their travel depending on whether they are flying for business, leisure, for a short trip or a longer time away. The new options enable customers to choose the level of product that suits them for each leg of their journey," says Mr Whittaker.

Choice is everything - comparison table.

The four new "Seats to Suit" options are in addition to the new streamlined check-in experience for passengers flying to Australia, which are now available at Auckland and Wellington International airports, with Queenstown and Christchurch airports to follow. The new self check-in kiosks have been introduced with the aim of halving the time it takes to check-in.

Passengers simply scan their machine-readable passports at a kiosk to be issued with a boarding pass, and bag tags if they are checking in luggage. Customers then take their bags to the 'bag drop' area, where Air New Zealand staff will scan the bag and check the passenger's ID.

Air New Zealand's four new options are available on its Airbus A320 services to Australia and the Pacific Islands. The four options are also available onboard the airline's Boeing 767, 777 and 747 Tasman and Pacific Island services, plus onboard these wide-body aircraft it will continue to offer Business class.

The Airbus A320 Tasman Pacific fleet is being standardising to one class with 171 seats, which equates to an additional capacity of 6% on these services.

Air New Zealand's new 'Seats to Suit' options are on sale today for flights from November 17 between New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Please note Auckland-Perth v.v, Auckland-Tahiti v.v and Sydney-Rarotonga v.v services will not have these choices available - service is as per today.

Find out more information on Seats to Suit.

Or for a quick fun video highlighting the ability for customers to choose a Seat to Suit check out this content on our Facebook page.


Ends

Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs ph +64 21 747 320