Where are they flying?
According to Air NZ, close to 150,000 customers are travelling to and from the South Island holiday destinations of Queenstown, Nelson and Dunedin over the break.
More than 170,000 customers will travel to and from Australia, with Sydney the most popular destination, followed by Brisbane and Melbourne.
Air NZ says its domestic network will have its busiest day this Friday. Photo / NZME
For those chasing Pacific sunshine, more than 50,000 customers are heading to the islands, with Rarotonga the getaway of choice, followed by Nadi and Apia.
For those journeying further afield, Singapore tops the long-haul list, ahead of Japan and Los Angeles.
Air NZ’s chief operations officer for ground and inflight, Kate Boyer, said the school holidays were always a busy and exciting time across the airline’s network.
“We’ll have families heading away, kids flying on their own to see grandparents, people travelling for some big events, and plenty of Kiwis making the most of the break,” she said.
“Behind the scenes, thousands of our people will be working across the network to keep everything moving, and we’re looking forward to getting everyone where they need to be.”
Compared with the same holiday period last year, Air NZ said there were 23% more seats between Auckland and Sydney, 10% more between Auckland and Queenstown, and 12% more between Auckland and Brisbane.
The airline has also added nearly 1000 seats for the Bledisloe Cup weekend in Sydney on October 17, including two additional return services between Auckland and Sydney.
“Our goal is to sustain our recent strong on-time performance even through this busy period – and that takes careful preparation and teamwork,” Boyer said.
“Overhead locker space can be pretty tight on busy flights, so we encourage customers to check they are within limits before they leave home.
“Economy customers should make sure their main carry-on bag is within the 7kg allowance, and if you’re taking more, it’s best to organise checked baggage before you travel to avoid having to repack at the airport.”
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