Matariki Menu Celebrates The Māori New Year In Air New Zealand Lounges

Matariki-inspired dishes to be served from 27 June - 3 July

· Seasonal flavours showcased in new winter lounge menu

· Bagels added to breakfast line-up

A feast to celebrate Matariki 2024 will await travellers in select Air New Zealand lounges from Thursday 27 June to Wednesday 3 July.

In keeping with the theme Matariki Heri Kai - the feast of Matariki, dishes taking inspiration from traditional Māori cuisine will be on offer in the Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown lounges.

The special spread will include roasted sweetcorn chowder, rēwena bread, apple cider pork and cabbage with puha pesto, and charred sweet potatoes with honey. Cured salmon on seeded lavosh will also be served as a kaimoana (seafood) treat.

Customers who miss out on the Matariki menu will still be able to enjoy seasonal flavours featured in the airline's new winter lounge menu.

Air New Zealand has this month refreshed the offerings across its lounges, with highlights including pork belly with spiced plum sauce, roasted kumara, carrots and parsnips with tahini dressing, spiced pumpkin soup and potato gnocchi with pumpkin creme sauce.

An expanded breakfast line-up includes veal sausage, skillet sweet potato hash, and bagels with raspberry jam, cream cheese and Biscoff spread.

Air New Zealand General Manager Customer Experience Kylie McGillivray-Brown says the airline updates its lounge menus every few months to showcase the best of what is available each season.

"We also take customer feedback into account when reviewing our menus. For example, our lounge customers told us they wanted more options to customise their dishes, so we're now offering more condiments like hot chili sauce, harissa and mint yoghurt dressing.

"As much as our lounge customers love variety, it's also clear they have their firm favourites - we go through 3800kg of cheese and 5500 boxes of crackers a month, so you can rest assured the cheese board won't be going anywhere!"

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