Remember when the original Lord of the Rings trilogy was in theaters, and you could fly on a plane with Frodo and Sam’s face plastered on the side? Well be prepared for Martin Freeman to grace your airport! Air New Zealand announced today a partnership with New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to feature The Hobbit themed aircraft!
ANZ is teaming with Weta to bring a mural on the side of a Boeing 777-300 for the first movie, and a Boeing 777-200 for the second movie. The airline is also working on filming a special in-flight safety movie that is sure to be “Hobbit” themed.
From the official media release:
Air New Zealand General Manager Marketing and Communications, Mike Tod, said, “We are excited at the prospect of so many international visitors travelling to Wellington for the 28 November 2012 world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
“New Zealand is clearly established as the home of Middle-earth and Air New Zealand will bring the magic to life for travellers.
“This partnership follows on naturally from the success of Air New Zealand’s relationship with The Lord of the Rings trilogy in raising New Zealand’s profile as an international travel destination.
“Similarly, we will be putting millions of dollars of marketing behind the two films based on The Hobbit to promote New Zealand in new and innovative ways across the globe.”
Mr Tod also talked about the use of social media and the role it will play over the next two years to promote travel to Middle-earth:
“The use of social media has grown exponentially since The Lord of the Rings trilogy and will play a big part in the way we’ll be connecting fans with both The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again and destination Middle-earth over the coming two years, including a series of exclusive competitions and unique fan opportunities,” says Mr Tod.
So for those who are travelling to New Zealand over the next two years, make sure you fly Air New Zealand for this once in a lifetime Hobbit flying experience!
Source: Air New Zealand Official Release
So what do they serve on board? Lembas bread and Ent-draught? ;p
More importantly, will they allow us to chip the glasses and crack the plates or blunt the knives and bend the forks?