One hundred and four family members of those lost in the Erebus tragedy will now travel to Antarctica on a remembrance flight next week.
The Government announced in August last year that the Royal New Zealand Air Force would fly one of its Boeing 757 aircraft to Scott Base this summer season, enabling family representatives to travel to Antarctica and spend a few hours experiencing the unique environment that drew those on flight TE901 to it more than 31 years ago.
Antarctica New Zealand had originally indicated up to 80 family members could be accommodated for the day at Scott Base, but thanks to extensive on-the-ground planning in conjunction with the United States Antarctic Program, that number has now increased to 104.
Air New Zealand conducted an independent ballot in September for 80 seats on the flight with the additional seats offered to reserves drawn at the time of the ballot.
Family members taking part in the flight are from throughout New Zealand as well as 13 travelling from overseas.
Wednesday 16 February 2011 has now been confirmed by Antarctica New Zealand as the scheduled date for the flight, with alternate weather days of Thursday 17 February, Friday 18 February and Saturday 19 February 2011.
The remembrance flight will depart from and return to Christchurch. Family members will spend approximately five hours on the ground at Scott Base, and participate in a memorial service conducted by the Very Reverend Peter Beck, Dean of Christchurch.
Ends
Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs ph +64 21 747 320
Note to Editors:
All seats on the remembrance flight have been allocated to family members with no places available for media.
However, TVNZ will be providing footage from Scott Base through a pooling arrangement similar to that used for the 30th anniversary commemorations.
Still photography will also be available. For more information on how to obtain footage and images please contact Matt Vance at Antarctica New Zealand – m.vance@antarcticanz.govt.nz
NOTE: The content of all Air New Zealand media releases are accurate at the time of issue, as stated at the top of each release. For updates on any changes, please contact Air New Zealand.
Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Air India, Avianca-TACA, Copa Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 21,000 daily flights to 1,160 airports in 181 countries.
For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com.
