Change in the wind for meals served on Air NZ flights

It may have been a while since travellers have enjoyed a full meal on an international Air New Zealand flight but the next time they travel afar, the serving could look a bit different.

The national carrier has been trialling more sustainable ecoserviceware on recent services to the Cook Islands.

In place of the usual single-use plastic, containers made from bagasse and rotable plastic were used. Bagasse is an agricultural byproduct made from plant fibre that is renewable and has a lower carbon footprint than traditional serviceware material. Rotable plastic is a product which can reused over and over.

Air NZ chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty says the current serviceware needs a change up. ‘‘We are on a journey to reduce the impact of our serviceware on the environment by moving away from single-use plastics and trialling more sustainable serviceware across some of our international flights.’’

Also, as part of the trial, plastic cutlery was replaced by a bamboo alternative. The airline believes 28 million single-use plastic dishes and knives, forks and spoons could be removed from inflight every year.

Air New Zealand has been looking at other ways to improve its eco credentials. It recently announced it was joining forces with Airbus to explore how zeroemission aircraft could be flown in New Zealand.