Importantly for shareholders, Air NZ lifted its interim tax-paid profit 10% to 11c per share - the highest ordinary interim dividend in the airline's history. Chairman Tony Carter said shareholders could be pleased with the high quality financial performance demonstrating the airline's resilience despite an 19% increase in fuel price. The half-year reported showed Air NZ achieved record passenger revenue of $2.3billion from 8.5million passengers carried during the six months. Chief executive Christopher Luxon said 2018 was shaping up to be another exciting year for Air NZ. Air NZ announced yesterday the launch of a new direct service to Taipei, starting in November.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 22, 2018 15:56 UTC