Air New Zealand has introduced a world first for children flying unaccompanied, giving parents and guardians the opportunity to follow the steps in their journey.
Children travelling alone on Air New Zealand services will now receive an Airband™ at check-in as part of the service.
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.
The airline’s new service applies to all children aged between five and 11 who’re travelling alone – but those aged up to 16 years can choose to opt in.
The new service is being offered on a complimentary basis through until 3 February 2016.
Bookings made from this date will incur a fee of $15 per child for each one way domestic journey, or $40 per child for each one way international journey applies.
Air New Zealand General Manager Customer Experience Carrie Hurihanganui says:
“We believe this is the first time this type of technology has been used by an airline anywhere in the world for the purpose of providing caregivers greater peace of mind when their child is travelling alone. We have been trialling it across our network over recent months and the feedback from parents and guardians has been very positive with many welcoming the additional reassurance of knowing where in the journey their child is.”
Domestic rival Jetstar New Zealand does not allow children below the age of 12 or who cannot prove they are enrolled in secondary school to travel alone.
In Australia, Qantas allows children age five to 11 to travel on domestic flights for a $50 service fee and on international flights for a $90 fee. Virgin Australia oparates a similar policy.
N.B. Image credit: airnewzealand.com
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