{"id":397287,"date":"2026-04-25T16:48:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T16:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/397287\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T16:48:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T16:48:27","slug":"a-flight-to-remember-air-nz-auckland-war-memorial-museum-carry-stories-of-service-across-the-tasman-this-anzac-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/397287\/","title":{"rendered":"A Flight To Remember: Air NZ & Auckland War Memorial Museum Carry Stories Of Service Across The Tasman This Anzac Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday, 25 April 2026, 7:44 pm
Press Release: Air New Zealand<\/a><\/p>\n

This Anzac Day, Air New Zealand operated a flight to
\nremember, carrying stories of military service across the
\nTasman.<\/p>\n

In partnership with T\u0101maki Paenga Hira
\nAuckland War Memorial Museum, every seat on flight NZ101, a
\ndawn flight from Auckland to Sydney, honoured a
\nserviceperson, as an act of remembrance on a day of national
\nreflection.<\/p>\n

A
\nFlight To Remember – Air New Zealand \/
\nSupplied<\/p>\n

Before the flight departed,
\nPetty Officer Musician Colin Clark of the Royal New Zealand
\nNavy band played the Last Post at the boarding
\ngate.<\/p>\n

On board, customers received a commemorative
\nedition of Kia Ora magazine placed on each seat, sharing the
\nstory of a New Zealander who served, past and present. The
\nstories are drawn from the Museum\u2019s Online Cenotaph, which
\nrecords New Zealand military service over the past 127
\nyears, across a range of conflicts and peacekeeping
\noperations.<\/p>\n

The stories include personnel from the New
\nZealand Army, Navy, Air Force and Merchant Navy, as well as
\nNew Zealanders who served with Australian Forces and other
\nallied nations.<\/p>\n

Air New Zealand Chief Sustainability
\n& Corporate Affairs Officer, Kiri Hannifin says
\ntoday\u2019s flight gave those travelling to Sydney from
\nAuckland a chance to reflect on Anzac service
\nhistory.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s flight is very special. These
\nare important stories we\u2019re carrying that have helped
\nshape our country and our history. Anzac Day is one of
\nAotearoa\u2019s most unifying national moments. Many of us have
\nrelatives who have served, and to partner with the Auckland
\nWar Memorial Museum to bring these stories to the skies on a
\nday of national remembrance was very special.<\/p>\n

Advertisement – scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n

\u201cWe
\nhope that through this flight, veterans and their families
\nfeel their histories are valued, and that passengers took a
\nmoment to reflect on the individual stories shared on
\nboard.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the stories included on the flight
\nwas shared by Staff Sergeant Tina Grant, wife of the late
\nCorporal Douglas \u201cDuggy\u201d Grant of the New Zealand
\nSpecial Air Service (NZSAS).<\/p>\n

Corporal Grant was
\nmortally wounded while attempting to rescue civilians in
\nKabul, Afghanistan in 2011, the first member of NZSAS to die
\nin Afghanistan, and New Zealand\u2019s third fatality there.
\nHis death marked a significant moment in New Zealand\u2019s
\ninvolvement in Afghanistan and was deeply felt within the
\nDefence Force and the wider community.<\/p>\n

Since then,
\nTina Grant has advocated for improved long-term support for
\nbereaved families of New Zealand Army personnel and helped
\nestablish the New Zealand Families of the Fallen Charitable
\nTrust.<\/p>\n

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tumu Whakarae
\nChief Executive, David Reeves, who has been instrumental in
\nthe development of Online Cenotaph, says the flight adds to
\nwhat is an important day for New
\nZealanders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough Online Cenotaph, we have worked
\nover many years to broaden how Anzac Day is understood, by
\nsharing records and stories from more than 40 conflicts in
\nwhich New Zealanders have served. Seeing these stories
\nacknowledged by Air New Zealand today brings that work to a
\nwider audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe profiles shared on this flight
\nwill be added to Online Cenotaph, becoming part of the
\nongoing record accessible to researchers, wh\u0101nau, and the
\npublic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copies of the special Kia Ora magazine
\nedition will be formally preserved with the Museum\u2019s
\ninstitutional archive.<\/p>\n

To further honour those who
\nhave served, Air New Zealand has made a charitable donation
\nto the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services\u2019
\nAssociation.<\/p>\n

Additional service records can be
\naccessed via the Auckland War Memorial Museum\u2019s Online
\nCenotaph at aucklandmuseum.com\/cenotaph.<\/p>\n

Ka
\nmaumahara tonu t\u0101tou ki a r\u0101tou.<\/p>\n

We will remember
\nthem.<\/p>\n

\n\u00a9 Scoop Media<\/a>
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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday, 25 April 2026, 7:44 pmPress Release: Air New Zealand This Anzac Day, Air New Zealand operated a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9293,78459,51,138,1861,153816,111,43,24636,139,69,11112,116106,112,174764],"class_list":{"0":"post-397287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-air-new-zealand","9":"tag-anzac","10":"tag-auckland","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-history","13":"tag-military-and-defence-issues","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-newsworthy","17":"tag-newzealand","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-scoop","20":"tag-state-owned-enterprises","21":"tag-transport","22":"tag-world-war"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}