New Zealand flavour introduced on China Southern flights

Media Release | 20 November 2014

New Zealand flavour introduced on China Southern flights

Auckland Airport, China Southern Airlines and Al Brown have joined forces to introduce a unique New Zealand taste to the China Southern inflight experience.

The initiative will enrich the food offering on China Southern’s Auckland to Guangzhou services by introducing New Zealand themed inflight menus. It will also provide the opportunity to showcase New Zealand food and wine, through a renowned local chef, to passengers on China Southern Airlines’ services.

The Auckland Airport initiative, which was officially announced at a ceremony today, sees the Airport and China Southern Airlines engage celebrated chef Al Brown to redesign the airlines inflight menu, initially for its Auckland to Guangzhou services.

Adrian Littlewood, Auckland Airport’s chief executive, says the collaboration provides a wonderful platform to present high quality New Zealand food and wine to a large and diverse audience.

“This collaboration will not only see New Zealand themed inflight menus on China Southern’s services, but will also provide background information to tell the story behind the featured New Zealand food and wine,” says Mr Littlewood. “This offers the opportunity for Chinese travellers to start their New Zealand experience the moment they step on board.”

“This initiative aligns strongly with our ‘Four Seasons, Five Senses’ project, which is a project jointly funded by Auckland Airport and the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment. We want to drive tourism growth by raising awareness within China of the unique and iconic activities that New Zealand has to offer, engaging the five senses of travellers with a focus on high quality food and wine, cultural and adventure experiences.”

Mr Tan Wan Geng, President and CEO of China Southern Airlines, says, “We are very excited to have a renowned New Zealand chef redesign our menu. It is a wonderful opportunity to add a unique element to our inflight services.”

“Although this initiative is focused in the first instance on our Auckland to Guangzhou services, in the future we hope to extend this further by bringing more international elements across our entire network.”

Al Brown, says, “As a proud Kiwi, it’s a privilege to be able to partner with China Southern Airlines and Auckland Airport to showcase New Zealand’s produce to the international market. I recognize the huge role tourism plays in the New Zealand economy, and I’m excited to work with China Southern to give passengers on the Auckland to Guangzhou route a taste of the best New Zealand has to offer.”

Ends

Background information

China Southern now has 14 roundtrip flights between Auckland and Guangzhou every week, using the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The initiative will see Al Brown redesign the China Southern Airlines inflight menu for its Auckland to Guangzhou services, introducing high quality New Zealand themed meal options. It will also include:

• Background information to tell the story behind the New Zealand produce featured on the menu, such as a map of New Zealand highlighting where the produce is sourced from.

• The offering of New Zealand wines matched with the menu.

• Recommendations and training of China Southern Airlines’ inflight crew on service delivery of the new menu.

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