Tauranga dairy stars in new Air NZ ad campaign

A Tauranga dairy has starred in a new Air New Zealand video campaign for Christmas.

Tauranga’s Fourteenth Ave Dairy got a special visit from Santa and provided the backdrop for the new campaign which gives local families free flights this Christmas.

The video— Twas the Flight Before Christmas— sees Santa Claus and Air NZ teaming up to surprise some lucky families with a magical plane ride and the gift of free flights to visit loved ones anywhere in Aotearoa this Christmas.

Dairy owner Phil Boyte said he was approached two weeks before filming on October 31 with the Air New Zealand team looking for an “authentic” dairy outside of Auckland.

And since his dairy was built in the 1950s with few alterations since, Boyte suggested this may be one of the reasons he was chosen.

The final shot has Santa licking an icecream out of a cone and Boyte said it was interesting to see just how many takes something like that would take.

“The amount of icecream I went through . . . about $20-worth, which they paid for,” he laughed.

The video begins with Santa using the recognisable Air New Zealand lollies to start up a small

"The amount of icecream Iwent through . . . about $20-worth, which they paid for."

Phil Boyte

plane ride for children in front of the dairy.

Air New Zealand’s chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said for the campaign, the “Sleigh320” toy plane was taken out of storage, upcycled, and repurposed as amagical prop to surprise unsuspecting locals.

Santa stands in front of the shiny plane, decked out with a small screen, inviting kids to take a ride on his Christmas plane.

“It can take you anywhere in Aotearoa,” Santa said.

The children hop in, pushing a button that starts up the engine and get excited as the lights turn on and the screen starts playing, with two airline staff speaking.

“This is a very special plane, it can grant your wish to fly you and your wha¯nau to anywhere in New Zealand,” the woman in the screen said.

The children rattled off the places they wanted to go; Napier,

Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, and Queenstown.

“Our Christmas elves think they may have just the ticket,” the woman said.

The staff then walk out of the dairy and hand a box to the children with tickets for them and their families to the places they wished for. “Is this actually for real?” one of the men asked.

All the Tauranga families featured in the video received their Christmas flights.