Page 41 - Explore Spring Summer 2019

AIRLINE UPDATE

SEOUL IS CALLING WITH AIR NEW ZEALAND
Fly with Air New Zealand on the non-stop service operated by
the 787-9 Dreamliner between Auckland and Seoul from 23
November. Connections are available from Air New Zealand-
serviced domestic airports in New Zealand. Air New Zealand
offers options for everyone from Economy Class, Economy
Skycouch™, Premium Economy and Business Premier™.
Seoul, the capital of South Korea, with a population of over
ten million people, is considered a megacity. It’s a huge
metropolis where modern skyscrapers, high-tech subways
and Korean pop culture meet Buddhist temples, palaces
and street markets. Key sightseeing attractions include the
neofuturistic Dongdaemun Design Plaza, a convention hall
with curving architecture and a rooftop park; Gyeongbokgung
Palace, which once had more than 7,000 rooms, and Jogyesa
Temple, the site of ancient locust and pine trees.
Seoul is Air New Zealand’s 32nd international destination and
the airline says the new route will be an important link for
NEW PAPER STRAWS JUST ONE PART connecting the 40,000 Koreans living in New Zealand with
friends and family back home as well as a convenient option
OF EMIRATES’ INITIATIVES TO REDUCE for Korean visitors wanting to come and explore New Zealand.
SINGLE-USE PLASTIC The new route flown by the airline’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
In a bid to do its bit for the environment and reduce single- fleet has a flight time of around 12 hours northbound and just
use plastic on board Emirates flights, eco-friendly paper over 11 hours southbound.
straws now replace plastic ones. The airline has been
working on various long-term sustainability initiatives and in
addition to plastic straws, plastic swizzle sticks and stirrers
will be replaced with eco-friendly alternatives by the end of
the year. From August, plastic bags used for in-flight retail
purchases will be replaced with paper bags. These initiatives
will remove an estimated 81.7 million single-use plastic items
from landfill each year.
Trials have been conducted on Emirates flights to explore
various recycling initiatives and Emirates staff and cabin
crew constantly give feedback and suggestions on other
environmentally friendly ideas. As part of its long-term vision
and fuelled by a cabin crew member’s suggestion, the airline
has been segregating large plastic bottles on board to be
recycled in Dubai and the rest of the world. This diverts an
estimated three tonnes or about 150,000 plastic bottles from
landfill in Dubai each month.
A full review of the plastics used on board has been conducted
and over the next few months, the airline will gradually
implement other initiatives to tackle plastic waste. These
initiatives are just part of the airline’s ongoing sustainability
efforts. In 2017, Emirates introduced ecoTHREAD™ blankets
made from recycled plastic bottles for its Economy Class
cabins. Each blanket is made from 28 recycled plastic bottles
and by the end of this year, Emirates will have saved 88 million
plastic bottles from landfill through this initiative alone.

HELLOWORLD TRAVEL : EXPLORE : SPRING/SUMMER EDITION 39