Air New Zealand Wins CAPA Asia Pacific Innovation Of The Year Award For Airband

This award is given to the airline, airport or supplier responsible for the most powerful innovation in the industry over the past 12 months. Air New Zealand Senior Manager Customer Experience Nikki Goodman received the award from Mr Harbison. The judges selected Airband for addressing challenges related to unaccompanied minors – a real-life issue that airlines throughout the world have struggled with for years. The Airband is a wristband issued to children who are travelling alone, giving parents and guardians the opportunity to follow each step of their young one’s journey from wherever they are in the world. It was developed in-house at Air New Zealand and has been in use for just over a year, since Oct-2015. The first product of its kind in the airline industry, Airband is embedded with a near-field communication (NFC) chip which prompts text alerts when Air New Zealand crew members scan the wristband with a mobile device at four key stages during a child’s journey. CAPA noted that Airband is one of several technological innovations introduced by Air New Zealand in recent years. “Air New Zealand has once again come up with an impactful and pioneering new invention, cementing its position as a leader in the strategic innovation space”, Mr Harbison said.