Air New Zealand gears up for busy holiday season

This summer, Queenstown emerges as the most popular domestic destination outside the main cities, with 250,000 customers set to fly there over December and January. Nelson will see 155,000 visitors traveling to and from New Zealand's sunshine state. Dunedin and Napier are also popular domestic destinations with over 120,000 expected travelers each.

Australia tops the international list with more than 450,000 customers booked to travel to Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane over the holiday period. Air New Zealand will also operate flights to Bali over the season for the first time, expecting more than 12,000 Kiwis on board. Los Angeles attracts more than 50,000 travelers while nearly 50,000 will be heading to Tokyo—a significant increase of 20% compared to last year.

Marren advises customers to be well-prepared for travel and seek assistance from Air New Zealand staff if needed. "Domestic travellers should plan to be at their gate 30 minutes before their flight's departure while international customers should arrive at their gate 45 minutes before departure," he notes.

Air New Zealand offers several travel tips: check your ticket for baggage allowance details; allow extra time if traveling with pets or oversized bags; verify Christmas items are allowed on board via CAA website; ensure travel insurance is current; sign up for travel alerts; expect longer processing times due to increased summer traffic.

More tips on preparing for holiday travel can be found through Air New Zealand resources.