Air NZ had copped criticism for the prices of flights available to Christchurch following Friday's terror attack at two mosques. Robertson had contacted Air NZ to "make his views clear" about this being a time when the airline should offer "compassionate fares". Air NZ is owned by the government and Robertson is a shareholding minister in the airline. "I know they do offer compassionate fares at times and this would have to be one of them." Mire said while he was thankful for the compassionate fares, Air NZ needed to do a better job at communicating these messages to Muslim communities.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 16, 2019 23:15 UTC