Hot food is now on the menu in Air New Zealand’s regional lounge, the first of the airline’s regional lounges to serve the new menu.
In a statement, Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said one of the most common regional lounge feedback was that the food offering was not the same as its larger ports.
Dunedin’s regional lounge was "first cab off the rank" this week, with a choice of two hot dishes — ginger soy chicken with capsicum and spring onion, and sweet and sour tofu with edamame and sesame — followed by chocolate gateau served with whipped cream. The ever-popular cheese rolls were staying, the airline assured passengers.
The menu would be rolling out to Nelson and Napier next, and expected to have the remaining five regional lounges up and running on the new menu in the new year.
"In the past we haven’t been able to do this because our smaller regional ports don’t have kitchen facilities — only basic storage and reheating.
"To work around this, we’ve collaborated with our ... chefs in Wellington who prepare the food and we then use our cargo network to get the kai into the regional lounges just in time for the first flights out," Ms Geraghty said.
Last year the airline finished a $150 million lounge rebrand programme.
