Waiata lifting spirits aboard NZ1236. Photo / Supplied
Air New Zealand has delivered a flight in te reo Māori for the first time as kapa haka stars flew to Tāmaki Makarau for Te Matatini.
The flight in partnership with Te Matatini, ferried 171 passengers from Te Whanganui-a-Tara to Tāmaki Makaurau.
Onboard were two performing groups, Ngā Taonga Mai Tawhiti and Ngā Uri Taniwha, alongside competition judges and emcees.
Everything on and off the flight, with the exception of the safety briefing, was conducted entirely in te reo Māori.
Waiata rang out across the check-in area and that continued all through the flight, from boarding call to the inflight service.
Ngā Taonga Mai Tawhiti and Ngā Uri Taniwha were among the passengers on NZ1236. Photo / Supplied
Someone even had the foresight to bring a guitar onboard, and guests were treated to an inflight performance from the cabin crew.
Air New Zealand Māori development lead Tupara Morrison said he would like the use of te reo Māori to continue to grow in future.
"What you see through our cabin crew, through our front of house staff ... we do want to extend that through the entire airline and that's the challenge we have ahead of us," he said.
"But there's lots of encouragement from our leadership, from our board to ensure that te reo Māori is really promoted and becomes a normal part for the airline."
Air New Zealand's Head of Māori Development Tupara Morrison. Photo / Supplied
Te Matatini chairman Herewini Parata said he was hopeful this initiative could be expanded to include other regions in the future.
"He timatatanga tēnei. Tā tātau mahi kia whāia a tua atu, ehara i te mea e hiahia ana kia pēnei katoa i ngā wā katoa. Engari ko wai e kite, ko wai ka hua ko wai ka tohu, tēnā pea ka taea ēnei āhuatanga mō ngā kapa haka katoa o te motu.
(This is a start. Our job is to ensure that it continues happening, although this isn't something that will happen all the time. But who can say, perhaps it can expand to all the kapa haka across the country.)
Kapa haka from around the motu are arriving in Auckland for the competition, the pōwhiri is on Tuesday at Ōkahu Bay.