December 17, 2002

AIRLINE TO MIDDLE- EARTH UNVEILS FLYING BILLBOARD

Air New Zealand and New Line Cinema announce two-year marketing agreement, which begins with official The Lord of the Rings aircraft.

On Monday, December 16, 2002, Air New Zealand rolled out its biggest tourism promotion yet - a Boeing 747-400 emblazoned with The Lord of the Rings motion picture trilogy imagery that will take the Middle-earth message to the world. The aircraft debuted at Los Angeles International Airport with some of The Lord of the Rings cast members and producers in attendance.

The aircraft features close up images of Elijah Wood as Frodo and Sean Astin as Sam. Wood, along with film stars Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis and Bernard Hill, posed before the massive 747. The Lord of the Rings producer, Barrie Osborne, and executive producer, Mark Ordesky, were also in attendance.

Spearheading the airline's new promotional identity as "Airline to Middle-earth," Air New Zealand's Vice President - The Americas, Peter Walsh described the promotion as "a visionary demonstration of Air New Zealand's commitment to drive the New Zealand tourism message in North America."

Air New Zealand has developed a two year joint venture with New Line Cinema to link The Lord of the Rings movie publicity to New Zealand tourism.

The aircraft image is the most visible expression of that partnership, but is underpinned by extensive marketing work in North America and around the world.

A second aircraft, a Boeing 767, will be launched with different Lord of the Rings imagery in January and will fly predominantly between Australia and New Zealand, and in the South Pacific.

"Frodo," the massive Boeing 747 flying billboard unveiled Monday, will undertake its own epic journey of nearly 2.5 million miles during the 12 months it remains on the aircraft - that's the equivalent of 96 times around the globe. It will visit Los Angeles 165 times, London approximately 45 times, Sydney 50 times and Japan 56 times.

Weighing 132 pounds, the giant decal will be subjected to temperatures ranging from -76F to 140F between high-altitude cruising and sitting on hot airport tarmacs in mid-summer sun.

Over the next year, passengers flying onboard the Frodo plane will see a thirteen minute video highlighting New Zealand locations used in the movie followed by a trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and also receive a special souvenir postcard.

In a year's time, the giant decal will be replaced by other The Lord of the Rings imagery - this time from the final movie in the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.