US airline returning

American Airlines is returning to New Zealand with daily, non-stop flights between Auckland and Dallas Fort Worth in Texas from October to March.

The Texas-headquartered airline has not flown to New Zealand since the start of the pandemic.

American Airlines vice-president of international José Freig said the service would launch on October 29 and operate until March 25.

American Airlines would service the flights with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, he said.

‘‘With Auckland returning to our network, we continue to strengthen American’s Asia-Pacific footprint.’’

In October 2019, American Airlines first announced plans to fly the route but in April 2020 delayed its launch, along with a new winter seasonal service it had planned from Los Angeles to Christchurch.

American Airlines entered the New Zealand market in June 2016 with a non-stop service between Auckland and Los Angeles, which last operated in March 2020.

American Airlines has announced its plans for the Angeles-Christchurch Auckland-Los Angeles services.

Auckland Airport aeronautical commercial general manager Scott Tasker said American Airlines would operate the Dallas Fort Worth service in partnership with Qantas.

Auckland Airport was pleased to have the service, he said. not Los and

Diners across the country no longer have to dream about meals from the best restaurants in Auckland, thanks to meal delivery service Meez.

The small business delivers food prepared by top chefs in restaurant kitchens to customers around the North Island, who complete and eat the meal at home. It has plans to expand into other centres soon, including in the South Island.

Meez co-founder Arthur Crawford said the idea came during lockdown when he sawmany high-end restaurants left out of meal delivery services because their food was too intensive to prepare at the whim of online orders.

So Crawford teamed up with his friend, Joe Scott, to create Meez, a platformthat allows restaurants to deliver meals to homes without compromising on taste or quality.

When Meez launched in January, things were ‘‘hectic’’, after five restaurants quickly signed up. Crawford and Scott were taking orders, picking up and delivering the food themselves.

There are now seven Aucklandbased restaurants on the platform.

In the coming weeks a further 10 to 12 restaurants would join the platform, Crawford said.

Since the business began, revenue has continued to grow 10% month on month. So far, restaurants have seen more than $150,000 revenue from sales through Meez.

Crawford said the secret to the success had been a different kind of approach to meal delivery.

‘‘Most meal delivery services arrive lukewarm, sloppy, and the kind of thing you don’tmind eating on the couch. We want to create amore meaningful home dining experience, something that you might light some candles for,’’ Crawford said.

Meezmeals are ‘‘around 90% preprepared’’ at the restaurants and placed in climate-controlled packages that are delivered overnight.

The business is attracting a different sort of customer to those wanting a fastmeal, with more than 50% of customers choosing to book meals for timesmore than a week in advance of the order date.

‘‘The restaurant experience is going to be here forever. What we are trying to do with Meez is provide a revenue stream for restaurants that will last through the future, and can cover those fixed costs that restaurants always have when they are not able to operate as normal,’’ he said.

Meez earns commission, which ranges between 20% and 25% depending on whether the restaurant packages the food or not.

But Crawford said because Meez supplied restaurants with boxes, ice packs and climate-controlled packaging the business’ real profit sat between 12% and 15% per sale.

Meez delivers to Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Wellington.