More than 200 passengers on an Air New Zealand flight that departed San Francisco on December 24 completely skipped Christmas Day after timezone rules meant that the plane touched down on December 26 in Auckland.
What seems like the perfect flight for the fictional Dicken character Ebenezer Scrooge himself, Air New Zealand flight NZ7 departed San Francisco at just after 8 pm on Christmas Eve for the 12-hour transpacific flight to Aotearoa.
As the Boeing 787 Dreamliner flew through multiple timezones and across the international date line, the passengers landed in New Zealand at around 5 am on December 26 – they had skipped Christmas Day altogether.
Worried about the prospect that passengers would lose out on even the “tiniest twinkle of Christmas Day magic,” Air New Zealand decided to put on a special show, creating a Christmas atmosphere onboard, even if December 25 no longer existed for everyone onboard.
“The holidays are a time to come together with loved ones, and we know missing Christmas Day can clip the wings of that festive feeling,” commented Air New Zealand’s Grace Blewitt.
“So, we decided to sleigh expectations and create a sky-high celebration like no other, sprinkling some magic on this journey,” Blewitt continued.
Passengers were treated to a unique light show, projected on the walls and overhead bins of the cabin, which took passengers on an enchanting journey from the snowy Northern Hemisphere to the sunny summer beach Christmas in Aotearoa.
There was also no escaping the traditional Christmas Day lunch, with passengers served a holiday menu that included a traditional turkey Christmas roast, sweet potato mash, and a chocolate yule log for dessert.
The passengers even got to open presents on Christmas Day, with Air New Zealand gifting everyone onboard custom-designed Christmas tree decoration and an airplane-shaped Christmas cookie.
Ah yes, famed classical author Charles Dicken.
That’s really a cool and thoughtful thing for Air New Zealand to do for the passangers. Can you imagine a major American airline doing that? Yeah, no way, not unless you paid double baggage fees that flight to pay for the cost of the “celebration”.
Nothing new- ! In the 1980s I was on a similar ANZ flight LA to Auckland and the co pilots went around the plane dressed as Santa giving little gifts to all the kids- immediately after we crossed the date line. For years after my kids continued to ask me how Santa had transferred from his sleigh to the plane at 35,000 ft
It’s Charles Dickens, with an “s”
Darly Chickens
They should market this as the Grinch flight. I bet they could get some money out of it or at least some social media hits.
WOW! Way to go Air New Zealand. I’ve never flown ANZ but I will surely consider you in the future. Again, way to go, and a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!
Wow. What an amazing & unique way for Air New Zealand to do for all those 200 or more passengers from kids to adults of all ages!
It sure was a huge blessing to all who were on that flight & beyond words from above with our lord & savior had a small part in this in air festivities for everyone to enjoy & be happy & the amazing food that was served to all! The LOVE & CARE that was shown to all those passengers!
God bless the amazing flight attendants & pilots!
The other fictional word in this story, besides Dicken, is Aotearoa.
A heartwarming story, well done Air New Zealand!
In reality, the 25th did exist, it just lasted a mere 4-6 hours. So in-flight was the only way to celebrate. On the other side, when they come home their day will last somewhere around 32 hours. THE longest day, for real.
I’m really touched with the courtesy and love and passion of NZA crew members and flight attendants for such a beautiful humanistic guesture and attention given to there passengers God bless them and the airlines as well.
I did fly with them before and highly recommend them to anyone.
Imagine if you took that flight to avoid Christmas and then had it ran down your throat for 12 hours
We flew Air New Zealand back to San Francisco on Dec 25th, left at 9pm Christmas Day and arrived home at 11:45am Christmas Day, so we double dipped on Xmas.
Flight attendants referred to it as a time travel Christmas miracle.
In 1991, on March 16, I departed from Honolulu at 2300, 11pm (HST) to Bali. We arrived on March 18.
I spent the next 10 years making up for that missed St. Patrick’s Day.
With 4 Ms and a silent Q!