Auckland

Air New Zealand’s matchmaker flight touches down in Auckland

Air Travel, Dating, Fun Stuff, ,

Just wanted to share a few photos from Air New Zealand’s matchmaking flight from Los Angeles to Auckland, which left LAX last night about 10:30 and arrived in a rainy Auckland this morning around 7:30 am.

First surprise: not everyone was 21 years old.  Folks who signed up for the flight appeared to range in age from 20 to 60.

Second surprise:  the crew!  During a send-off party in the gate area, which included a practice round of speed-dating, passengers were treated to a choreographed dance performance by the entire crew of the airplane. Including the pilots.   The song? Beyoncé’s Single Ladies (Put a ring on it).

ANZ DANCE

Hi-jinx continued on-board, with meet-your-neighbor party games and the unpacking of the goodie bags, which included lip balm, perfume and tiny panties, modeled here by two, um, creative and enthusiastic passengers.

ANZ pantie gals

More later…including the story of the 87-year old who crashed the party.

Air New Zealand’s Matchmaking Flight

Air Travel, Airlines, Fun Stuff, , ,

Air New Zealand, the folks who brought us those cheeky and now-classic, nearly-naked commercials (see a sample below), will be sending a planeload of folks from Los Angeles to Auckland tonight, October 13th, on a 12-hour matchmaking flight.

As MSNBC.com’s (very happily married, thank-you) Well Mannered Traveler, I get to tag along to see if sky-high speed-dating makes any sense or if it’s just an excuse to party on a plane.

ScreenHunter_03 Oct. 12 23.02

According to Nick, the reservations agent who answered my call to Air NZ today, the  LA – Auckland flight is sold out and there are folks in Auckland hoping everyone doesn’t get paired up on the flight over so there’s some mystery left at the sold-out matchmaking flight party planned in Auckland.

What do you think? Does a matchmaking flight make any sense?  If the flight is more than 12 hours long, can we really call it speed-dating?  And what tips do you have to share with folks who are giving this a try?