As New Zealand celebrates Māori Language Week the country’s national carrier has introduced te reo Māori as a language option on its New Zealand check-in kiosks and bag drops.
On top of this, Air New Zealand is rolling out te reo Māori as a language option on its Inflight Entertainment system, starting with its A321 and A320 neo aircraft.
Air New Zealand’s Cultural Development Manager Henare Johnson said the airline had been working closely with its digital team and translators to make te reo available on its check-in and bag drop kiosks.
“Our Inflight Entertainment (IFE) team has also been working closely with translators to carefully interpret our inflight content,” he said.
“We have already introduced some Māori content into our IFE, including bilingual answers on our domestic inflight quiz”.
“It’s great to introduce te reo as a language option starting with our A321 and A320 neo aircraft, followed by our A320 and widebody Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 fleets from the end of this year”.
Air New Zealand’s Cultural Development Manager Henare Johnson
He said as New Zealand’s national airline they recognise Māori culture is an important part of their country’s identity and are focussed on further weaving it into their organisation and our customer experience.
Other initiatives the airline has introduced to embrace Māori culture include the recent decision allow Air New Zealand employees to proudly display Tā Moko and non-offensive tattoos.
On top of this, they have committed to increasing the airline’s representation of Māori and Pasifika employees in leadership roles to 20% by 2022.
They have also developed the Te Kete Tikanga Māori mobile app for staff which is a useful resource for employees to engage in Māori culture and build confidence in using te reo Māori.
Happy Māori Language Week!