Most frequent fliers are aware of the importance of keeping active and performing stretching exercises when taking a long flight. Being inactive for long periods of time is one of the causes of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which occurs when restricted blood flow leads to the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein of the leg.
It must be with those concerns in mind that Air New Zealand has teamed up with New Zealand fitness company Les Mills to “create a series of inflight wellness exercises specifically designed to enhance the wellbeing of its customers”.
The New Zealand flag carrier says that by December 1, all customers travelling on international Air New Zealand services will have access to a series of stretches, exercises and meditation techniques hosted on the airline’s inflight entertainment system “to help ease the tensions of travelling”.
Air New Zealand senior manager customer experience Niki Chave says the partnership has a focus on customers travelling in economy cabins.
The wellness segments will be free to all customers as part of Air New Zealand’s inflight entertainment platform, with “adaptations for Economy, and Business Premier seats”.
Les Mills creative director Diana Mills said: “It’s not about doing burpees and tuck jumps in the aisle. This [is] all about demonstrating low-impact, carefully designed stretching and relaxation techniques that anyone can do discreetly in their seat to effectively alleviate any symptoms associated with travelling.”
Business Traveller Asia-Pacific has reached out to Air New Zealand for more details on the partnership with Les Mills.
This isn’t the first wellness focused initiative Air New Zealand has introduced in recent months. Earlier this year, the airline said it would offer a new pillow for business class passengers that uses technology originally developed for astronauts in an effort to improve the quality of sleep for passengers.
Other airlines across the Asia-Pacific region are also introducing wellness elements into their product offering. At the start of this year, Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific opened a yoga and meditation space in its The Pier business class lounge. In February, we tried out that then-new space and you can read our review of it here.
