YOU no longer need to be apprehensive about your grandchildren flying in alone from overseas to visit you for the holidays.
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Air New Zealand is the first in the world to give its unaccompanied children an Airband at check-in. The wristband is embedded with a chip, which is scanned at key stages of the journey to trigger text notifications to up to five nominated contacts.
“We know that having a child travel on their own can be a nervous time for both children and guardians," said Air New Zealand general manager, customer experience,
Carrie Hurihanganui. "While our staff have always taken great care of children travelling solo, we identified there was an opportunity to provide further peace of mind.”
The airline has been trialling the service across its network over recent months with positive feedback from parents and guardians.
The new service applies to all children aged between five and 11 who are travelling alone – but those aged up to 16 years can choose to opt in.
It is being offered on a complimentary basis until February 3. Bookings from this date will incur a fee of $40 per child for each one-way international journey.
