This includes a new Singapore-Christchurch route, which complements Air New Zealand’s existing Auckland-Singapore route and is part of a broader capacity increase over the peak season, the airline said today.

The new Christchurch service, which will operate three days a week, will see over 34,000 seats operating on the route during the season, significantly increasing the options available for Indian travellers to New Zealand via Singapore.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Nikhil Ravishankar says the changes significantly improve how India connects to New Zealand and vice versa.

“We’re seeing strong demand in both directions for travel between India and New Zealand, whether that’s for tourism, education, business or visiting family and friends.

“By increasing capacity through Singapore, we’re making it easier for Indian travellers to get to New Zealand, with more choice, better connections and more efficient journey times,” says Nikhil Ravishankar.

“The introduction of our new Christchurch services also opens up more direct access to the South Island – one of New Zealand’s most sought-after destinations – without the need for multiple connections,” he added.

Credits: Air New Zealand

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Designed and built by Air New Zealand’s own research and development team, the Next Gen Kiosks run on familiar, user-friendly technology, including iPads that enable intuitive touchscreen interaction and passport scanning using built-in cameras. The kiosks were trialled at Auckland’s domestic terminal from June to March, with four trial machines processing more than 30,000 customer journeys across the period.

One of the most significant improvements has been in check-in speed, with average check-in time dropping from more than two minutes to just 37 seconds. The fastest domestic customer completed check-in in a record 18 seconds, thanks to faster scanning and printing, and more intuitive prompts throughout the process. One recent example saw a group of 21 customers checked in, with boarding passes and bag tags issued, in just 2.5 minutes. On the previous kiosks, the same process would have taken more than two minutes per customer, and groups of more than nine would have required manual check-in with a customer agent. As a result, check-in for larger groups is now up to 20 times faster.

The new kiosks also have cost benefits. Each unit costs around a third of the previous kiosk and the airline expects to save more than $1 million per year in upkeep, including reduced reliance on external technical support. The airline will also save money with reduced staffing levels.

Air New Zealand’s Chief Customer and Digital Officer Jeremy O’Brien said, “we focus our innovation efforts on better customer outcomes. The purpose of our research and development team is to make travel easy and frictionless. And no one knows our customers better than our frontline team. As a business, we’ve worked together to develop, test and launch the new kiosks.”

The project moved from business case to rollout in 13 months, covering both kiosk hardware and digital development. It started with a specific check-in problem at the airport, with prototypes tested on site and refined using real customer and operational feedback. That allowed the team to identify issues early and improve the experience before scaling it.

Credits: Air New Zealand

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