Comments on: Air New Zealand – accessible travel review

By: S

Sat, 26 Mar 2022 10:23:36 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing, this post was incredibly reassuring and very helpful. I know it’s an older post but I am planning on flying with air New Zealand San Fran to Auckland in May, and it will be my first time traveling Internationally and my first time traveling with my wheelchair as it’s a very new addition to my life. I feel much less anxious to fly with air New Zealand and more confident in asking for assistance as needed after reading through this post so thank you!

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 09:21:21 +0000

In reply to Tim Jefferson.

Hi Tim

Air NZ doesn’t have an accessible toilet. I have come across a larger toilet on some Virgin Australia international fights and on the Qantas A380 flights.

Julie

By: Tim Jefferson

Tim Jefferson — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 19:24:10 +0000

Does Air NZ have a disabled-access toilet? Do other carriers? Thanks.

By: Mike Hamill

Mike Hamill — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 03:14:12 +0000

i’m a 60’y/o kiwi with athetoid cp, and i also use a wheelchair.
i live in invercargill (at the bottom of the south island) and fly with air nz (DOMESTIC) 3-5 times a year, mostly for meetings in wellington.
fling into wellington airport isn’t always an easy landing, as it’s often windy – That’s when the TORSO-harness comes in extremely hardy.
I’ve always found Air NZ staff extremely PROFESSIONAL, friendly and always go the extra mile for disabled TRAVELERS.

the Only issue i have is air nz only uses the smaller atr’s out of invercargill airport now – so not as much room to board on their isale chairs, plus the seats are far more cramped, than the larger q300’s that they only use in the more populated cities.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 02:13:41 +0000

In reply to Jas. So great to hear Jas. I hope they get some A380's in their fleet especially for the US run. Thanks for sharing your experience.

By: Jas

Jas — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 12:50:47 +0000

We flew with Air New Zealand last month to LA via Auckland. Exceptional service by all the staff they were very accommodating of our needs for our seven year old with CP but I agree the small size of there bathrooms will become a issue for us as he gets older and bigger.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 09:27:59 +0000

In reply to michael. What a horrible experience to go through but so glad the crew were so good. Great to hear your recent experience was a good one.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 09:26:35 +0000

In reply to Phil Bates.

That’s so good to hear Phil and I agree, it doesn’t seem hard if the chair is available with one airline, why not others?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Julie

By: michael

michael — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 09:07:05 +0000

Ros and I had a miscarriage between Sydney and Auckland on an LA flight. Air New Zealand were our carrier. The response from in flight and on ground crew was phenomenal . Timely, sensitive, incredibly helpful. This was a long time ago. A recent flight to Christchurch left me with the same feeling. I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending air New Zealand

By: Phil Bates

Phil Bates — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 08:31:12 +0000

I had a wonderful experience flying home from NZ on Air New Zealand. They had the thing that I’ve been dreaming about for years – an adjustable height aisle chair!
We landed and waited, as usual, till everyone else had disembarked and then came the time I dread on every flight, transferring upwards from my seat to a higher aisle chair, then transferring upwards again from the aisle chair to my higher-than-usual wheelchair. This process is usually exhausting and embarrassing, but the staff that arrived with the aisle chair saw me starting to struggle and, to my surprise and delight, asked me if I’d like them to lower it so that I could transfer downwards. When we got to my wheelchair, they simply pumped it up higher using a foot pedal, allowing me to transfer downwards to my wheelchair.
Why is this not the standard for all aisle chairs on every airline? If it was, I’d fly far more than I do now!