Kia ora,
Thank you for your request for a special meal to be provided on your Air New Zealand flights. The purposeof this letter is to explain Air New Zealand’s position on this matter.
Air New Zealand does provide special meal options for customers with religious, ethnic and dietaryrequirements. The most up to date information on this service is available on our website.
From time to time, we receive requests to provide meals for people with specific food allergies.
Air New Zealand’s in-flight meals are prepared in over 20 kitchens around the world, each of which sources
food and ingredients from many different suppliers and caters for many airlines with their various menu
options. Given this, it is not feasible to test or control every ingredient and utensil which is used in preparing
meals to the level that we can guarantee there will be no traces of an allergen substance present.
Accordingly, I regret that we cannot accept requests for allergen-free meals.
Some customers have allergies so severe they can react to the presence of tiny quantities of food in the air,the most common example is peanuts. Experience has shown that it is not feasible to exclude these minutetraces from the aircraft environment as we cannot control what is brought onboard by other passengers.
Therefore, we regrettably advise we are also unable to guarantee an allergen-free environment on any ofour services.
If none of our special meals cover your medical requirements, you are welcome to bring your own suitablepre-packed snacks on board with you. However, please remember that the facilities on our aircraft are notavailable for refrigerating or heating any meals you may bring with you due to space limitations andpotential contamination reasons. You must also comply with security regulations relating to the carriage ofliquids, gels, and aerosols in the aircraft cabin, so if your own food contains such items, it would be wise to
carry documentation which indicates your requirement and a copy of this letter as your meals may besubject to inspection. Please also note that because of agriculture requirements at your destination, it islikely that your uneaten food will need to be either left on board the aircraft or disposed of in the amnestybins provided in the airport.
If your allergy is severe, we strongly recommend that you carry appropriate medication on board ourservices in the event of a reaction. Once again, because of enhanced airport security measures it would be
wise to carry documentation from your doctor concerning this medication. If you are not sure that you will
be able to administer your own medication in an emergency, you should travel with a companion who canassist you if such an event occurs. Whilst our cabin crew are not permitted to administer medication,
Air New Zealand does carry a comprehensive Physicians Kit on its jet services which is made available toany travelling doctor in a medical emergency. The kit does contain an Epipen (prefilledadrenaline/epinephrine injection). We also have specialist medical staff on call 24 hours a day to advise thecrew on medical problems that may arise inflight.
In closing, I would like to reassure you that Air New Zealand is committed to ensuring your inflight wellbeing
and safety and I am sure you will understand our position on this matter.
Ngā mihi nui,Dr Hardeep HundalChief Medical Officerairnewzealand.co.nz