Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Air New Zealand's Annual Shareholder Meeting for 2023. I have just acknowledged those who have passed before us and the iwi of this land. A special welcome to all our shareholders and other important guests gathered here today. My name is Therese Walsh, and I'm the Chair of the Air New Zealand board. I'm very pleased to welcome you to join us in this meeting today. Of course, today's shareholders meeting is the first we have held in the capital city, and we're very pleased for those of you who can be here with us in person and, of course, our visitors online. For our visitors online, I can report that it is a beautiful, rainy Wellington day. But of course, this meeting is also being webcast live for those unable to physically attend.
And that's part of our commitment to shareholders, making these meetings as accessible as possible, regardless of the physical location. We hope that our hybrid meeting will continue to support greater participation and engagement with our shareholders. On behalf of the board and the executive team, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to you all. Before we begin our formal proceedings today, I would like to introduce you to my fellow Air New Zealand board members. From my far right, we have Jonathan Mason, Claudia Batten, and Larry De Shon, who has joined us in person today all the way from Florida. Kia ora. And from my far left, we have Dean Bracewell, Paul Goulter, Laurissa Cooney, and our Chief Executive Officer, Greg Foran. And unfortunately, Alison Gerry, one of our directors, is not with us today. She has a clash with another board commitment.
Seated in the front row, we also have Richard Thompson, our Chief Financial Officer, our General Counsel and Company Secretary, Jennifer Page, Chris Goddard from Bell Gully, the company's lawyers, and Melissa Collier from Deloitte, the company's auditor, on behalf of the Auditor- General. We also have a number of other members of Air New Zealand's executive team and our share registrar, Link Market Services, present with us today, as well as our investor relations and communications teams. I would also like to take this opportunity to pay a special thanks to Jonathan Mason. Jonathan is one of our longest-serving directors, and he is retiring at this meeting. We have very much appreciated the insights and guidance that Jonathan has provided over the past decade and the skill with which he helped the airline navigate the toughest period in its history.
His experience and commercial insights have been invaluable, as has his service as the chair of the People, Remuneration and Diversity Committee, and I want to thank him for his significant contribution. Kia ora, Jonathan. I would also like to take a moment before we begin to thank you, our shareholders, for your continued support of the airline. Let's turn to the formalities of the meeting, and I note, based on the information conveyed to me, that there is a quorum of shareholders present, and I therefore declare the meeting open. Notice of the meeting was circulated to all shareholders, and I would therefore take it as read, and of course, we will discuss the resolutions later in the meeting. Please note that only shareholders, proxy holders, or shareholder company representatives may vote.
For those of you joining us online, you will be able to vote and also ask questions during the meeting. Please refer to the Virtual Annual General Meeting Online Guide, which is available on the NZX website and on our Investor Centre website for specific instructions. If, during the course of the meeting, you need any further assistance, please call the Link Market Services helpline on the 0800 number highlighted on this slide. The order of events for today's meeting will be as follows: I will comment briefly on the company's performance for the 2023 financial year and on the broader environment in which we are operating, and I will also discuss the outlook for financial year 2024.
You will then hear from Greg Foran, our CEO, and following that, you will have an opportunity to ask questions related specifically to our 2023 financial performance. I will then move to the formal resolutions of the meeting, which relate to the re-election of three of our directors who retire by rotation today. Voting on the resolutions will be conducted by way of poll. For those of you here with us in Wellington, you will be able to cast your vote by filling out the voting card received at registration, and these will be collected at the end of the meeting. You may also use your smartphone to vote, and to do this, you will need to have registered with a PIN prior to entering the meeting.
If you are a shareholder and did not register on arrival and wish to vote, please make your way to the registration desk, and staff from Link will assist you. For those attending the meeting online, you will be able to cast your vote using the electronic voting card that you received when you validated your registration. Again, if you have any issues, please refer to the Virtual Annual General Meeting Online Guide that has been sent to shareholders, and this can also be found on the main page of our Investor Centre website. Following this voting, I will open the floor to any general questions you may have. Immediately after the conclusion of the meeting, we invite shareholders who are attending in person to join the board and members of our executive team for refreshments out in the foyer.
So I will begin my remarks about the 2023 financial year. Of course, the 2023 financial year began as borders were still reopening, and many of our international wide-body aircraft remained stored in the desert. Fast forward 12 months to the end of our financial year in June, and the airline had restored around 80% of its pre-COVID capacity, reopened all international ports, and returned to profitability. The financial result we announced a little over a month ago, with operating revenue of NZD 6.3 billion and statutory earnings before taxation of NZD 574 million dollars, this was delivered in the context of what can only be described as an extraordinary operating environment.
Since New Zealand's borders reopened, the level of demand we have seen, both here at home and on our international network, has been much stronger than even our most optimistic forecast anticipated when we recapitalized the business. Those levels of demand persisted throughout the financial year. That strong demand environment coincided with a perfect storm of supply constraints across the whole aviation ecosystem. From a tight labor market and increased levels of sickness, to delays in the supply of new aircraft and spare parts, the pressures of ramping up quickly have been felt in almost every facet of our operation, and it has been the same for all airlines globally.
Combine these dynamics with inflationary pressures that have seen cost increases of around 15%-20% across key areas of our business, and you quickly arrive at the environment we see today, both here in New Zealand and across the global aviation sector. Tight supply and high cost inflation, driving higher prices for customers and, at times, a clunky experience. We know in a tight supply, high demand environment, there is a fine balance to tread between offering affordable fares and making sure there are seats available for those customers that need to travel last minute. Aotearoa is our home market, a market we care deeply about, and we have worked hard to tread this balance carefully, putting as many aircraft and seats in the plane and in the air as we could to help alleviate prices.
We are pleased with the result Air New Zealand has delivered and of the value we have created for our shareholders. After three years of pandemic-related losses, it felt good to return to profitability. This has allowed us to announce a special dividend of NZD 0.06 per share, returning more than NZD 200 million to our shareholders, as well as allowing us to make strategic investments in the airline's future. Reflecting on the past three years, I feel very proud that despite the challenges, Air New Zealand kept its eyes firmly set on the future. It would have been easy to let short-term decision-making creep in, but we kept our purpose: to connect New Zealanders to each other and the world, our promise of manaaki, taking care further than any other airline in the world, and our Kia Mau strategy, front of mind in everything we do.
There is so much more to our recovery than just the financial result. Our people have worked tirelessly to deliver great achievements, some of which are outlined on this slide. I'm only going to highlight a few, but we have undertaken the largest recruitment drive in our history, onboarding and training 3,000 people in a tight labor market. We've lifted the wages across our frontline workforce to a minimum of NZD 30 per hour as part of our Good Jobs strategy, and settled 16 collective agreements with our unions, and this speaks to the collaborative nature of our relationships. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that none of this would have been possible without our remarkable team of Air New Zealanders. Our Air New Zealand whānau turn up each and every day to deliver for our customers.
They are the absolute backbone of the airline, and their grit, commitment, and determination to deliver exceptional service is second to none. The board and I are very grateful for everything that they do. Sustainability, or more specifically, decarbonization, continues to be one of our most critical challenges, and the profound impact of the changing climate was felt here in New Zealand with the Auckland floods in January and Cyclone Gabrielle a few weeks later. The future of our industry depends on the global transition to net zero emissions by 2050, and we must all be invested in this transition. Air New Zealand has its part to play, and we know we must decarbonize our operations, but the challenges are significant. Aviation is one of the hardest sectors to abate. There are very few levers available, and we don't control all of those levers.
While we can deliver greater operational efficiency, other pathways to decarbonization, such as sustainable aviation fuel and next-generation aircraft, will require global collaboration, policy change, and significant advances in technology. We are not waiting for a solution to come to us. Over the past year, Air New Zealand has worked with local and global stakeholders to start accelerating access to high-quality, affordable, sustainable aviation fuel. We have also partnered with aircraft developers and innovators to give them confidence we will be an early adopter of new, lower-emissions aircraft. We want and we need a seat at the global table as all airlines grapple with the need to decarbonize and dramatically reduce emissions. We know the task ahead is immense, but we are moving in the right direction.
One thing the board has been deeply involved in this year is the revised capital management framework, announced at the annual results in August. The board determined it was appropriate to revisit the airline's previous capital management settings around liquidity, leverage, investment targets, and distributions following the recovery from COVID. The revised framework is applicable from the 2024 financial year onwards. We have increased our target liquidity range, which was NZD 700 million-NZD 1 billion, to be now NZD 1.2 billion-NZD 1.5 billion. This is currently supplemented with the existing NZD 400 million Crown standby facility, which is currently undrawn. We remain committed to maintaining an investment-grade credit rating.
We are currently rated Baa2 by Moody's, and it is the board's intention to maintain this rating, as it provides us with financial resilience and flexibility in terms of access to various funding markets and attractive pricing. Given the importance of this rating, we are moving away from reporting a gearing target of 45%-55%, to implementing a net debt to EBITDA target metric of 1.5-2.5 times. This better reflects how our lenders, credit agencies, and investors assess our financial leverage. Our distribution policy has also been revised from a consistent and sustainable ordinary dividend to a payout ratio of 40%-70% of underlying net profit after tax, which is more aligned to our global peers.
As always, distributions are ultimately determined by the board, taking into account profitability, where we are at in the CapEx cycle, and other macroeconomic factors. We acknowledge that we are currently outside our target ranges, but there are a number of tools that will be used to prudently transition these back into range over time. At the results in August, we noted that the 2023 financial year was particularly unique, with significant customer demand, constrained market capacity, and lower overall fuel prices in the second half. As such, we view the 2024 financial year to be more reflective of future financial performance. Looking ahead to the first half of the 2024 financial year, customer demand remains solid across most of our markets, noting that in recent weeks we have seen softening in corporate and domestic demand.
We are mindful of the uncertain economic environment, however, and acknowledge there are a number of factors that may impact future customer demand and profitability. These include increased international competition, volatile fuel prices, a weaker New Zealand dollar, ongoing wage inflation, and increased airport charges. Since the annual result reported on August 24, the airline notes a further adverse impact on its cost base from fuel prices and the weaker New Zealand dollar. These factors, alongside passenger demand and the previously disclosed Pratt & Whitney global engine issues, will continue to be closely monitored. Given the uncertainty and volatility of some of these macroeconomic factors, the airline will not be providing guidance at this time. To finish, I'm enormously proud of how Air New Zealand has navigated the past year.
Despite the challenges of restoring our international network and navigating a global aviation sector that has struggled with the speed of recovery, I believe Air New Zealand has delivered for all of our stakeholders. This is testament to the strong leadership and customer-centric ethos that has been embedded throughout the organization. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank the entire Air New Zealand whānau for their tireless efforts. I would also like to thank my fellow directors, and to you, our shareholders, for your support. I would now like to invite Greg, our Chief Executive Officer, to address the meeting.
Tēnā koe, Therese. Tēnā koutou e oku rangatira, ki te mana whenua, ki a tātou katoa. Ka nui te mihi. Kia ora, and good afternoon, everyone. Now, while the recovery has been challenging to navigate, our guiding principle throughout has been to do the right thing by our customers, our people, our shareholders, the communities to which we fly, and to our suppliers. And we think we've struck the right balance between rebuilding the airline, reinvesting in the future, and delivering the Air New Zealand experience that our customers expect. Reflecting on the past year, it's actually quite remarkable to think that we've gone from reporting one of our worst financial performances ever to announcing a strong return to profitability in 2023. Now, in between times, we've ramped up our international network at pace, and as Therese said, we've hired and trained thousands of staff.
We've launched direct flights to New York, and we've developed a roadmap to guide our progress on decarbonization right through to the end of the decade. We've announced a new cabin layout for our wide-bodied aircraft coming in late 2024, including the world's first Skynest, providing a lie-flat economy option. We've invested in self-service digital tools that put more power in our customers' hand, while helping us remove weeks, 5 of them actually, from call volumes out of our contact center. We've supported our communities by deploying assistance flights, carrying communication support, emergency supplies, and airport operational staff to help those on the ground in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle. We reduced fares at the same time to support those traveling to or from the impacted regions.
We've also recognized our suppliers at our annual Tūhono Supplier Awards, acknowledging the significant contribution that they make to our operations and the value that can be achieved through deep partnership and engagement.... Now, delivering the brilliant basics for our customers has been, and continues to be, a key focus, and we've lifted our on-time performance. That's when our flights arrive into port, from just 68% in July 2022, when we first really reopened internationally, to an average of 77% for FY 2023, and we're now at 83% in August this year. Now, I know it may not feel like it at times, but actually, that performance does put us in the top five of major airlines worldwide. But we know that we've got a lot more to do, especially around cancellations and on-time performance.
We've staffed up in key areas to ease pain points for customers, adding resource to the contact center and to our refunds team to work through backlogs, and we've extended the deadlines for customers to use their COVID credits several times, while also enabling those credits to be used on any flight on any part of our network. Customers can also use the credits to book flights for others or use them for various upgrades. Now, currently, we've got just over NZD 200 million of these COVID-related credits on our balance sheet, because around 80% of all our customers have actually been utilizing those credits already. We're busy at the moment reminding those who have got outstanding credits to make a booking by 31 January 2024 for travel through the rest of that calendar year.
I think the whole team at Air New Zealand would agree that it's been incredibly rewarding to get back to doing what we love, which is flying to connect friends and families with those that are near and far, or to take that long-awaited holiday. It's certainly stretched us operationally at times, and at the interim results, we spoke candidly about the challenges we faced with the contact center wait times, the reliability of our schedule, mishandled baggage, and the time taken to process refunds. Now, as you can see on the screen, we've actually made some very real progress in each of these areas, but I can tell you that our intense focus is on maintaining this momentum through FY 24, and that is a key priority.
Reflecting on the journey we've been on, if act one was survive COVID, and act two was enjoy the recovery, then act three is how we go about sustaining this performance against headwinds. As Dame Therese mentioned earlier, although we've been experiencing a strong trading environment due to high levels of demand and industry-wide supply constraints, we are facing an uncertain macroeconomic environment. Market capacity from North America will increase over 120% this summer, with American carriers and Qantas adding new services. In Asia, we're starting to see Chinese carriers and add services from various ports. While more capacity is a good thing for markets that are currently undersupplied, the increasing cost of living may start to impact discretionary spend, and with it, people's travel plans.
Although we reported our annual results only four weeks ago, fuel prices have risen substantially higher, and the cost to purchase that fuel in U.S. dollars is even more expensive due to the weaker Kiwi dollar. Inflation continues to bite, driving increased costs across the whole business. Recent updates provided by Pratt & Whitney, who supply and maintain engines on 16 of our neo aircraft, which operate primarily on the Tasman and the Pacific Islands, will put further pressure on our operation. We expect more details from Pratt & Whitney in the coming weeks and have been developing plans to reduce the potential disruption to customers. As we navigate our way through these challenges, I'm confident that we are well-positioned as an airline. We have the right strategy and a core set of enduring competitive advantages that we've spent years cultivating and fortifying.
These advantages will support us through difficult periods, and when times are good, they really help power up our performance. We also have a flight path, our Kia Mau strategy, that helps us navigate short-term volatility and keeps us future-focused. That strategy, Kia Mau, focuses on three key drivers of profitability. First, is to prudently grow our domestic network, the core of our airline. The second is to optimize our international network, which means flying the right aircraft to the right locations at the right time for our customers. And third, is to lift our loyalty proposition, which helps drive deep connection and engagement with our airline. Now, underlying these pillars are four key enablers: doing the basics brilliantly, leaning into our decarbonization challenges, thirdly, improving the digital proposition for our customers and our people, and then finally, having a relentless focus on safety.
With Kia Mau at the heart, we're rebuilding as a stronger, more nimble airline, and we're confident we have the right strategy and the right team to deliver. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.
Thank you, Greg. I'm now going to open the meeting to any questions you have that may, that are specifically, in relation to the company's 2023 financial performance. If you have general questions, can I just ask that you hold those till the end of the meeting? So I'm just gonna check if there are any questions, either in person here in Wellington or online, in relation to the results of the company for FY 2023. So firstly, I'll just check in the room if there are any questions. There appear to be none, and, from what I can tell, online, there are no questions online. There is one question online. Thank you, Kim.
Your question is: How will Air New Zealand deal with the downturn in the Chinese economy?
Well, Greg, having lived in China, is our China expert, so I might ask him to make a couple of comments on that.
Well, first of all, China remains pretty core to our strategy. We fly to Shanghai daily, and what we're seeing actually is pretty good demand out of that market. At the moment, it is quite subdued in terms of what is occurring vis-a-vis the United States and China in terms of air traffic, but to our part of the world, it's actually quite strong. So we intend to keep that service going. We like getting into Shanghai daily. It's not only good for passengers, but it's great for cargo. And we're not forecasting any significant issues in that part of the world.
Thank you, Greg. Are there any further questions in relation to the FY 2023 result? Kim, none online?
No further questions.
No further questions. Thank you. None in the room. Excellent. Thank you very much, everyone. Let's now come to the formal resolutions of the meeting, and the resolutions for consideration today may only be voted on by shareholders, proxy holders, and shareholder company representatives. The matters to be voted on today are the re-election of three of our existing directors who retire by rotation, being Dean Bracewell, Laurissa Cooney, and Larry De Shon. Air New Zealand's constitution requires that directors are appointed by the board and brought to the annual shareholders meeting to retire and to be re-elected at the next meeting. As already mentioned, voting on all the resolutions will be conducted today by poll. When you registered on arrival, you should have been given your shareholder voting card.
If you are a shareholder and did not register on arrival and wish to vote, please make your way to the registration desk outside the room, and staff from Link will assist you. If you are both a shareholder and a proxy holder or shareholder company representative or have more than one holding, you would have received a separate voting card for each holding. When you vote on the resolutions, please complete all voting cards given to you at registration. If you hold shares in joint names and all holders are here today, you will have received one voting card only for your holding. Shareholders voting using their smartphone can swipe left to follow and vote on the resolutions. If you require any assistance, one of the Link Market Services staff can assist you. Now, the company secretary holds a record of the valid proxies and postal votes received.
Before I put the resolutions to the meeting, you can see the results of the voting directions given to proxies and the postal votes at the bottom of the slide for transparency. We will discuss and vote on each resolution in turn, and Link Market Services will tally the votes at the end of the meeting. I will firstly turn to the re-election of Dean Bracewell as a director. Dean has been an independent, non-executive director of Air New Zealand since April 2020. He is the Chair of Air New Zealand's Health, Safety, and Security Committee, and also sits on the People, Remuneration, and Diversity Committee. Further credentials of Dean Bracewell are noted, detailed in the notice of meeting, and I will now invite Dean to give his comments in relation to his re-election. Kia ora, Dean.
Thanks, Therese. Kia ora koutou. Ko Ngāti Maniapoto me Ngāi Te Rangi oku iwi. Ko Dean Bracewell, director, Aotearoa Rangi, Air New Zealand. Air New Zealand today is in quite a different place to the airline I joined in the immediate aftermath of COVID. At that stage, I spoke to you of my desire to eventually see Air New Zealanders who had lost their jobs, welcomed home when the airline was in a position to thrive again. It is with a great deal of satisfaction that I've met many Air New Zealanders across the last 12 months that have indeed returned and are so proud to be back. Despite the pressure the airline has faced over the last 3 years, it has been incredibly satisfying to be involved in decisions that will continue to shape Air New Zealand in the years to come.
I'm confident that the airline's strategy is sound, and its team of people are outstanding. I'm a member of the board's People, Remuneration, and Diversity Committee, and Chair of the board's Health, Safety, and Security Committee. The governance work of these committees is at the heart of the execution of the airline's longer-term strategy, Kia Mau. I believe the deep transportation, logistics, and general commercial experience I bring to the board, as outlined in the notice of meeting, combined with the learnings I've gained in the last three years, positions me well to add further value to the performance of your company. With your support, I'd be honored to continue as a director of Air New Zealand. Thank you.
Thanks, Dean. I move that Dean Bracewell is re-elected as a director of the company. Can I just check if there are any questions in relation to that resolution? Are there any questions in the room? No, there appears to be none. Kim, are there any questions online? No. Excellent. Thank you. If I could now ask you to please submit your vote by ticking either for, against, or abstain on your voting form under Resolution 1, to re-elect Dean Bracewell. Thank you. Our next resolution is in relation to the re-election of Laurissa Cooney as director. Laurissa has been an independent, non-executive director of Air New Zealand since 2019, and sits on the Audit and Risk Committee, and is the incoming chair of our People, Remuneration, and Diversity Committee. Further credentials of Laurissa Cooney are detailed in the notice of meeting.
I will now invite Laurissa to give her comments in relation to her re-election. Kia ora, Laurissa.
Ngā mihi, Trace. Tena koutou katoa, ko Laurissa Cooney ahau. Ko Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi tōku iwi. Ngā mihi kia koutou katoa i tēnei ahiahi. Kia ora, I am Laurissa, and my iwi connections, whakapapa to the Whanganui River, and I currently reside in the usually sunny Bay of Plenty region. It has been a pleasure to be able to address you all today, and I thank you for your time. It is an honor to be considered for re-election to the Air New Zealand board and to have a few moments to talk to you all. By way of background, I first joined the Air New Zealand board in October 2019, and I am also an independent director for Goodman Property and Accordant, and chair the Aotearoa Circle, and the Tourism Industry Transformation Plan for the Environment.
I'm an active member of the Institute of Directors with a chartered member status and a fellow of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. This deep background in financial reporting, audit, and risk management, coupled with my governance experience and prior CFO commercial experience, has allowed me to contribute strongly to the strong existing skill set of the board. I have a strong understanding of the varying regional environments across Aotearoa and New Zealand, alongside social good and sustainability practices. I've enjoyed bringing these insights to the board for the betterment of Air New Zealand. And I'm very proud of Air New Zealand, our CEO, Greg, and our Chair, Therese, for their outstanding leadership. Proud of our passionate staff and my fellow board members for their commitment and contribution to Air New Zealand.
I'm deeply committed to working on your behalf to achieve the best possible outcomes for your company, and with my fellow directors and with your support, I would like to continue in this role and continue to bring a financial, audit, and risk, and ESG perspective to this very special, special New Zealand company. Thank you for your time. Ngā mihi katoa.
Thanks, Laurissa. I move that Laurissa Cooney is re-elected as a director of the company. Have we received any questions? I'm just asking for questions. Are there any questions, firstly, in the room today in relation to that resolution? No, there appear to be none, and there are none online. Again, if you could now please submit your vote by ticking either for, against, or abstain on your voting form under Resolution Two to re-elect Laurissa Cooney. Thank you. Right, so our final resolution is in relation to the re-election of Larry De Shon as a director. Larry has been an independent, non-executive director since April 2020, and he sits on the board's Health, Safety, and Security Committee. Further credentials of Larry De Shon are detailed in the notice of meeting, and I now invite Larry to give his comments in relation to his re-election. Kia ora, Larry.
Thank you, Dame Therese. Kia ora, and good afternoon, everyone. It's a privilege to be here today and to be considered for re-election to the Air New Zealand board. So thank you for a few minutes of your time. I joined the Air New Zealand board in April of 2020, bringing 45 years of experience in the aviation and transportation industry, as well as a deep global perspective to the board. Prior to joining Air New Zealand, I retired as CEO of Avis Budget Group, where I spent 13 years in the rental car business. I also worked at United Airlines for almost 30 years, beginning my career on the front line in airport operations and working my way up the organization to serve in global executive roles throughout the airline.
Currently, I serve as a member, a board member for the Hartford Financial Services Group, where I am chair of the Finance, Investment, and Risk Committee, and I also serve as a board member for United Rentals, the largest equipment rental company in the world. I'm really proud of the outstanding work the Air New Zealand family has performed these last three years, guiding the company through unparalleled turbulence. The leadership Greg and his senior team have demonstrated has been so inspiring and rewarding to be part of, and I want to thank them for their never-give-up determination. Their work, and the work of all of our Air New Zealand colleagues, has brought us the opportunity that we now have to focus on our future and building a world-class airline that is better and stronger for our customers, our colleagues, and our shareholders.
I hope that through my experience, I can contribute to these aspirations. It would be my honor to continue as a director with your support. Thank you.
Thanks, Larry. I move that Larry De Shon is re-elected as the director of the company. Again, I'll ask for any questions in relation to the resolution. Are there any questions in the room? There appear to be none. No questions online. Okay, thank you. If you could please now submit your vote under Resolution three to re-elect Larry De Shon, please select either for, against, or abstain. Thank you. Have all who wish to vote done so? Okay. Link Market Services will collect your voting cards as you exit the room, and once all the cards are collected, Link Market Services will count the votes. Shareholders participating via the virtual meeting website should now submit their votes. Voting will be open until the close of the meeting, and the results will be announced to the NZX and the ASX after the conclusion of the meeting.
I now welcome you to sit back, relax, and watch the following video before we proceed to general business. Thank you. I call the meeting back to order. As a reminder, the results of the poll will be made available on both the NZX and the ASX after this meeting. I would now like to open up today's meeting to any other questions that you may have. Can I please ask that we use this time to focus on questions relating to matters that are relevant to the airline? If you have any specific customer-related matters that you would like to address, please direct your comments to our investor relations team, who are here today, or you can contact them online.
And for our online shareholders, if you wish to ask a question, please send those through, and I will address some of those questions, as they are received. Now, while we wait for members of our audience and our online shareholders to consider a question, I think we're going to receive some questions now that have been received prior to the meeting. So question one is: Will dividends get back to what they were before COVID, or will they be scaled back due to all the extra shares on issue? So look, the new capital framework that I talked through earlier sets out, we think, very transparently, the parameters around what will be contemplated in terms of a dividend. There are a number of factors that the board will take into account.
And also, obviously, the board's discretion is important in that regard. And so, we have currently set it at 40%-70% of underlying NPAT, but that's obviously dependent, again, on those factors that I just mentioned. We think that that is a transparent policy. And in terms of the number of shares, you are correct, that there has been an increase in the number of shares as a result of the capital raise that took place recently. Okay, so on to question two: Where do you think the company would be five years from now in terms of profitability and stability? Unfortunately, I don't have a crystal ball in that regard, but what I think as a board we are focused on is a really solid and strong strategy that sets us up for the future.
That strategy, as Greg outlined it, in terms of Kia Mau, allows us to build the basics, look at our international, our domestic networks, build our loyalty platform, become the leading digital airline in the world, and continue through all of that to consider our decarbonization objectives. So, there's a lot of work there, and I think that that will set us up for the future very well. Of course, I don't know what the macroeconomic environment will be like in five years, but I hope it is a good one. Okay, question three: Will Air New Zealand pilot fusion energy technology and AI as part of engine development going forward, to reduce its carbon footprint, and in so doing, be world leaders in carbon-free initiatives?
Obviously, as an airline, we are really leaning into the decarbonization, our decarbonization strategy and plans. It is just worth noting that we don't actually develop engines. That's not within the purview of our company or one of our lines of business. However, there is a large ecosystem that we partner with and will support in terms of developers and suppliers, and ensuring that we work collectively on the decarbonization goals that are in front of us. Question, another question's come through: Why is the airline taking up the politically correct for Labour and the Māori parties, ethnization in its advertising, et cetera? It does nothing for those across the ditch to get a Kia Ora or for those in the majority in New Zealand as well.
The presence of it on board your flights ignores that the majority of its passengers are not Māori. Look, I make no apologies for the fact that in New Zealand, we consider ourselves to be the national airline of this country. And we honor the indigenous language of Te Reo Māori. It will always be incorporated in everything that we do alongside English, and we don't make any apologies for that. We are very lucky and very proud to fly the Koru on the tail of our planes, and we will continue to do so. Tēnā koe, Chia: It would be nice to upgrade the well-used seats on the Q300. The seats have lost their comfortableness. Yes, I think some of us would concur.
I think, this is an issue that's right on the table, and as our Q300 aircraft enter into heavy maintenance, they will the cushions and the coverings and seating will be upgraded. I can see all the executive nodding at me. And so that will be occurring over in the near future as planes go in for their servicing, their heavy maintenance. So you can look forward to a more comfy seat. What is the forecast for Air New Zealand since the technical matters with engines on the A320neo and A321neo planes? That's in relation, I imagine, to the Pratt & Whitney issues that Greg outlined before. As Greg has outlined, we don't have a lot more information right now.
We know that there'll be a new servicing schedule as a result, and we know that we'll have to think about that and the impact on the airline. But there's really nothing more to say at this time until we get some more information. So, all I can say is that we will mitigate, we will work hard to mitigate any impacts, as they arise, as best we can, to ensure as, the least number of disruptions to our customers. Why does Air New Zealand not have flights to India? A direct service to India would be great. There is a large population and a lot of Indians living here permanently. Yes, absolutely. Something that's been discussed from time to time.
Obviously, we live here in New Zealand, and we have, as a company, set up a strategy that really focuses on the Pacific Rim, and that is for the purpose of operating on routes where we have a strong competitive advantage. We know that there is a lot of demand into India, but we are able to service that demand through our partner airline, Singapore Airlines. There is a huge amount of connectivity between Singapore and India, and that's been working really well for us. But, of course, these things are always under review. The next question is: Has a target been set for the share price, and what strategies are in place to achieve it by a timeframe?
I mean, the share price, obviously, is dictated by a number of different factors, not all of which are strictly within our control. But, look, we've seen it stabilize, and it's it is where it is at the moment, and we do everything we can to run the company in an optimal way, and that's probably all I can say around the share price. Okay, last question, I think, in this section: Are Pratt & Whitney providing financial penalty payments for their part of the continuing serviceability issues experienced with the engines of the A320neo and A321neo fleet? Certainly, they've indicated that they would like to work with us on any adverse impacts that this development would cause, but it's too early to say what they might be and how that might look.
But, that's where that stands at the moment. Okay, so those are the questions that have been submitted to now. We'll now answer any questions from the audience and our online shareholders. So I'll just look in the room first. Are there any questions from our shareholders in the room today? Yes.
Hello.
Kia ora.
Neville Watkin, shareholder.
Kia ora, Neville.
Hi. Just wondered, has the company got any position on the proposed Tarras Airport?
Look, when it comes to airports, obviously we are keen to have good connectivity around the country. We work with all the airports that we currently have, and we look to work with all the stakeholders in a region to understand what the demand profile, et cetera, might be. So we're really looking for the region to take the leadership on where the airport demand is and where, and where the developments are. From an Air New Zealand perspective, we stay reasonably agnostic in that regard. It's for us to work with those authorities. Any other questions in the room today? Yes, over there.
We've just done an exercise to look at going to the U.K. In terms of competitiveness-
Mm-hmm.
Air New Zealand were way down the list.
Right
... in terms of their prices.
Mm-hmm.
If you also look at what they've got available in terms of the seat configurations-
Mm-hmm
... we're looking at premium economy.
Mm-hmm.
The availability of the meals, the drinks, and most importantly, the service.
Mm.
When we stacked it all up, there was probably three or four airlines which were ahead?
Right.
We've gone with one of those other airlines. Now, we would have liked to have gone with Air New Zealand. My question is: what is Air New Zealand's international strategy-
Mm.
to get them back to where they were.
Mm
so that the likes of us, and we're going with two other couples, so it's-
Mm
Quite a significant amount of money we've spent.
Mm.
What's the strategy to get Air New Zealand?
Mm
back to where they were, so that we can actually go with Air New Zealand
Mm
Rather than those other airlines internationally that have gone ahead of them?
Thank you. A few comments to make in that regard. Obviously, we would like you to be flying with Air New Zealand. That's the first thing. I think the second thing is that, in terms of the service, we're of the view that we have world-leading service at Air New Zealand. Our cabin crew really do set us apart around the world, and we get much feedback on that, and it is one of the really key factors that keeps our customer satisfaction levels at a high level. We have done a lot of work in terms of refreshing the food, the beverage, in-flight entertainment options on our aircraft for long-haul destinations, in the last year or so. That's being rolled out.
In terms of the configuration of the seats and the planes themselves, as has become sort of quite widely known, we have a refurbishment of our current fleet of 787s being scheduled to happen with our new seat configurations, our new products. And also there'll be new aircraft coming into the fleet over that time as well. So there's quite a lot going on in the international fleet. Some of it, we have to wait a little while for that to occur. So I understand what you're saying about a whole package of things. From a pricing perspective, that's always a bit tricky. It depends on the day and the time, et cetera, in terms of where you're looking at going and what your destination is.
A lot of it depends on the capacity that's available in the market at that time. So, I can't comment specifically on the exact route that you took, but, from an international perspective, we've obviously had strong business demand and leisure demand throughout 2023. Greg, did you want to add anything to that answer?
Look, I think you've covered it. You know, we're always keen to make sure that our product stacks up, both in terms of service and the hard product. There are areas that certainly other competitors are ahead of us. You know, I regularly travel other airlines. Qatar, for example, have an excellent, excellent product out there. But generally, I guess what I'm seeing is that, by and large, we're stacking up reasonably well. Doesn't mean that there aren't some flights that are better than others. In terms of some of the hard product, we are going to spend over $3 billion over the next couple of years, getting some new planes in, refitting some old ones, and I think you're going to like what you see.
You know, we're currently rolling out live World Cup rugby games on the plane, so, you know, there's live TV that's getting rolled out. So a whole bunch of things, but-
Mm
Absolutely, we've got to strive to make sure that we want to be in front. We recognize that we have a responsibility not just to run a great airline, but to represent a great country. And so, you know, when we get feedback that we're not doing well, we take it to heart, and we then pull it apart and say: What have we got to do to do better?
Mm.
Thanks for your feedback, and I can assure you, we want to win, just as much as you do.
Yeah, we want to be at the top of your queue next year, if you could help us with that. Thank you. Thanks for the question. Any other questions in the room? Yes.
Hi, my name is Hugh Jones.
Sure, Hugh.
am a small investor.
Mm-hmm.
The dividend that we received in my bank account was absolutely fantastic. But I've got... I'm sitting on NZD 20,000 cash now. Because there's no idea of forward dividends or generally, I don't know whether to buy more Air New Zealand shares or just say, "Well, the last dividend was a Hail Mary, so we'll just have to wait it out-
Mm.
... as to an idea
Mm
-to invest money," because this does also affect your share price in the future.
Understood. Thank you, Hugh. I certainly wouldn't like to provide you with any investment advice. That would be inappropriate for me to do so, but I understand the question. Look, we did see the FY 2023 special dividend as that, as some... You know, we had unusually high demand relative to what we considered in the capitalization, the recapitalization. So, it was our view, given we had excess liquidity, to give some of that back to the shareholders. The capital framework I outlined, the 40%-70% ordinary dividend of underlying NPAT, subject to all the caveats that I made earlier. Of course, you will be looking to understand what the level of profitability in the company will be going forward.
Again, I can't advise you about that, but as we know more, the company does release guidance from time to time, and that may be of interest to you in that regard. But we're really aiming to get a very transparent framework around dividends. We've kind of matched it up with our global peers. One of the important things about the change as well, and the dividend policy, is about sort of seeing this thing through a cycle. Aviation can be a little cyclical, and so, that's an important factor, too. But I understand the dilemma that you're talking, speaking of. Yes? Kia ora.
Tony Hayward, a shareholder.
Kia ora, Tony.
Just an operational question. Somewhat to my surprise, at Auckland Domestic, quite a few months ago-
Mm-hmm.
You were trialing onboarding of frequent flyers onto the jet services. I'm just wondering, is there an update on that, or any progress on boarding frequent flyers?
I might ask you to hand the microphone to LG or Alex. One of our executive will take the microphone. Yep, and just give you an update on that. Thank you.
Yeah, kia ora. Are you talking about the boarding sequence and how we do boarding sequence? That is something we're gonna be looking at over the next year. You know, there are a lot of different ways to board aircraft, and, you know, we've been evaluating how do we make sure that we deliver to our special customers, to our frequent flyers. So that is something in the works, so thank you.
So, watch this space, I think, was the summary there. Thanks, Tony. Any other questions in the room? Yes.
Peter Hastings, small shareholder.
Kia ora, Peter.
Hi. Can you allude or say what the actual problem with the Pratt & Whitney engine is, what the issues are at all?
Well, what we've been advised of is that there's one part within the engine that requires more frequent maintenance or repair than previously, and so—but in order to get to that, you need to take the entire engine, and it's normally in an overseas servicing port. So, it's sort of a large exercise for the one part that does require this more accelerated maintenance schedule. Sorry? Yes, and sorry, that's a good point. Thanks, Greg. It doesn't just affect Air New Zealand, it affects anyone with that fleet type around the world, so it's quite a large impact globally for that one type of aircraft. Okay, thank you. Are there any other questions in the room? Otherwise, I'll just check online. Don't appear to be. Kim, do you have any questions online? Thank you.
I do. Your first question is: What initiatives will you be putting in place to improve operational on-time performance?
Well, I'm going to start, and then I'm gonna hand it over to the people that deal with the day-to-day operations. However, I would have to say, from a board perspective, it has been a real focus. We call it Brilliant Basics. So getting your on-time performance right is a very important part of that. And we have seen a steady improvement in it. There is still lots of work to do, and things aren't perfect. So Greg or Alex, would you like to comment on that?
I want to make a couple of comments, and if you can give the mic to-
Thank you
... to Alex, and if any of the other team. I said in my remarks that, as you referred to the Brilliant Basics, we actually found ourselves, at the end of August, in the top 5 airlines worldwide. That's independent data. That's not us marking our own homework. That's getting out there and saying: How are we actually performing? And that's what we call on-time performance, A15. So, what is the percentage of flights that arrive within 15 minutes of when they are scheduled to arrive? And as I said, in the cohort of airlines, and this is, that cohort includes, you know, American Airlines, whether it's Delta, United, American, Qantas, British Airways, Cathay, Singapore, Air Canada. We actually got in the top 5.
If you wanna know who comes first and second, pretty much every single month and every single year, it's actually the Japanese airlines. That tells you something about their culture, and if any of you have been to Japan, and you've seen how that operates and how you catch a fast train, you probably wouldn't be surprised. Generally, who comes in sort of third and fourth can often be someone like Emirates, are pretty good. As I said, we got into fifth, so we beat Delta, for example, who are undoubtedly the best and most consistent of the U.S. airlines, and for any of you who travel a lot, you would probably see that.
So we're not great, but we're actually in the top five, and I would just say to you that the whole ecosystem has not really recovered all that well after COVID. And it's not just airlines. You know, we're part of an ecosystem that requires parts to be available and airports to operate well, and flight controllers to operate well, and contract baggage services that are in faraway ports to operate well. We strive at this every single day. We just don't measure planes that arrive on time. We obsess about cancellations. I hate cancellations. I hate cancellations because not only is it no good for customers, it's actually no good for us, because we end up with the plane in the wrong port and the crew in the wrong port, and it costs us a lot of money. So we strive to get cancellations down.
We strive to get not just flights arriving on time. They won't arrive on time if they don't leave on time. So this is a big deal to us. There's a lot that we spend on it. Alex, what do you want to add?
... No, I just add that, we are passionate about getting out safe and on time, and that is one of our core, core foundation and focuses here in the airline. It's all about setting up our teams for success, so making sure that we have the right number of people. Obviously, this past year has been a huge year of ramp up. Making sure our people are getting the right training and properly trained, and also providing the right equipment. This year and next year, we'll be spending over NZD 50 million per year upgrading all of our ground services equipment at Auckland and at airports across New Zealand. So getting, and our people excited, getting our flights out on time, right staffing, right tools, right equipment, and also the schedule structure.
As we look at, Greg said about the ecosystem and looking at, you know, what does it take to connect from one terminal to another? You know, what is the block time of the airplane? And making sure that's right. And also building in some resilience. So, you know, things do happen in the airline industry. We have weather, we have cyclones, we have floods, and so how do we have some resiliency as well in the system? And really proud, we've been working across the airline here to provide resilience and to help set up our people for success, to deliver safe and on time.
Thanks, Greg. Thanks, Alex. And I think it is worth reinforcing that safety comes first. And that will continue to be the case. And as Greg said, while we might rank in the top five airlines globally, that doesn't appease anybody who has a late running flight or a cancellation. We totally understand that there is more to be done, which we're very focused on. Okay, and I think there's one other question in the room. Yes.
Thank you. Just start with a commendation. As a Wellington-based small shareholder, thank you for bringing the AGM to Wellington.
Yes.
I'd like to commend, Air New Zealand on supporting te reo and the other unique aspects that makes Aotearoa New Zealand special, and a destinational, and a aspirational destination for many international travelers.
Mm-hmm.
However, and also, the diversity that I see in your international air crews is really good. However, residing in Wellington means that passing through Auckland Airport is a challenge-
Mm.
especially when returning
Mm.
because it can be a couple of hours in the arrival hall.
Mm.
which means our total
Mm.
journey is an extra hour or two.
Mm.
What can Air New Zealand do about the delays at Auckland, and when might you be having more Wellington direct flights internationally into the Pacific? And...
Kia ora. Firstly, just to say that, I thank you for your kind words. They're very much appreciated. Secondly, as a fellow Wellingtonian, I do the commute frequently, if not weekly, through to Auckland, so I understand what you are talking about. There's no doubt, as Greg mentioned earlier, that the ecosystem, just generally within which we operate, is under pressure. There has been some media attention at the airports and in particular in Auckland. It's not our prime role, obviously, the airport is not under our purview, but at the same time, we work with all the stakeholders at Auckland Airport.
And I know that, from Greg down, there's a lot of active management of our role at the airport, but also in terms of collaborating with the stakeholders there to try and see some active improvements, for the very reason that you've just outlined. Thank you. Can I just go online now and see if there are any other questions? There are. Thank you. When do you expect to announce a new order for the long-haul aircraft to replace the 777 fleet? So we've already done that, haven't we?
Yeah.
Yeah, it has actually been announced that we will have 8 787s joining our fleet sometime from, Greg, what first year does it come in?
We have them scheduled at this stage, the first coming at the end of next year-
Mm
... circa October, November, but that is to be confirmed.
Mm.
We'll have better information on that in November of this year.
Mm.
You know, there's a chance, but we don't know that, that they may end up being delayed. Some of the airline manufacturers are still struggling to get back on their feet, but at this stage, the first of the eight gets in the end of next year, and that will be with new configuration, with SkyNest-
Mm
... with a new entertainment system on board, with a new, you know, fit out right throughout the cabins, not just at the front end, but right, right down. It's pretty exciting.
Yep. Great, thank you. Kim?
Your next question is: Will sustainable aviation fuel increase the cost of fuel for Air New Zealand?
Well, there's no doubt that sustainable aviation fuel is far more expensive than the usual fuel that we use. Probably around four times, I would say, the cost at the current time. How that cost will move will depend on how the market responds from a supply perspective and from a demand perspective. What we can do, bearing in mind that sustainable aviation fuel is a very important pillar to our decarbonization journey, what we need to do as a company, and what we are doing as a company, is leaning into that supply chain, trying to understand within this country what's possible in terms of production.
We have a partnership with the New Zealand government and others, as well as working with the international producers, in the supply chain, so that we can, we can promote further supply, we can hope for more manageable pricing over time, and, we can seek to make sure that that product is available to us as we need it to fuel our airline. So thank you.
... Next question: How did the board justify bonuses when shareholders are still not receiving a regular dividend? Why also were we paid a special dividend of NZD 0.06, not an NZD 0.11 dividend, considering it was your second-best recorded profit?
Hmm. Okay, thank you. So, obviously, FY 2023 was a return to profitability, and it was a very good year from a profitability perspective, with an unusual set of circumstances as the aeronautical industry sort of built back post-COVID. And I think it's very, very important for the board, myself and the board, it's very, very important that the people that work for this company and who worked really hard and have worked extremely hard during some difficult times be rewarded fairly for their efforts. And, as we return to profitability, it was appropriate that the bonus structures were allowed to essentially become on foot again.
When you think about the shareholders, who also deserve to receive some of that benefit from returning to profitability, I think it's really important that even though we are back into profitability, we've only just got here. It's really important to just sort of take stock. We wanted to do something that was meaningful for shareholders, but we also wanted to be prudent and cautious around releasing all of our liquidity at one time. And just taking steps and instead taking a moment, rewarding our shareholders, and building a new capital management framework that would see us that would see us go forward and provide that sort of understanding of the framework for our shareholders going forward. So that's how the board has contemplated those two issues. Thanks, Kim.
Next question: What did Air New Zealand learn from COVID-19 in terms of surviving another black swan event in the future?
Yeah, and I think that question comes straight back to the capital management framework, that the pillars upon which it's been built are that ability to create an extra layer of financial resilience into our framework. To ensure that we have an elevated level of liquidity available to us, should the ecosystem or the aeronautical industry suffer any other type of incident or event. Obviously, we can't guard against every single thing, but we think that on balance, that's a really prudent place to fall. We received a lot of advice around that. We looked at all of our global peers, and we feel really satisfied with where we've landed in that regard.
To what extent have future fuel costs and foreign currency fluctuations been hedged against?
Okay, so we have a hedging policy. We don't fully hedge against everything, and we're more hedged as you get closer to the present day. If there's a lot of detail in our annual report. Perhaps I'll ask our CFO to give a very brief synopsis of that hedging policy.
Yeah. Very quickly. Thank you, Therese. We do hedge forward fuel prices in over a 12-month period, with the emphasis on the near dates. So over the next 12 months, we're roughly 75% hedged on our fuel for the first half of the year, and much close to 35% hedged for the second part of the year. The philosophy behind that is that you can't hedge your way to happiness. Ultimately, all we're trying to do as a business is buy ourselves enough time to make sure that for a given fuel price, we've got the right fare and capacity settings. So, the only other comment I would make on fuel is we hedge the Brent crude price in our hedge book, not the Singapore jet price.
The difference between the refining margin and actually what we've seen over COVID, and to a certain extent at the moment, is there's quite a lot of volatility in the refining margin, or what we call the crack spread. But that's a very quick sort of explanation of what we do.
Thank you, Richard. I'll just note, there are many airlines around the world that don't hedge fuel at all. I think really, the benefit of a progressive hedging strategy, as Richard has outlined, is it really allows some time to consider what's coming in the future. So that's the purpose of it. Thank you, Kim. What's the next question?
Would Air New Zealand consider looking at around the world service, especially to the United Kingdom?
Destinations and routes are, in the network in general, is always, you know, under review and contemplated. I can't see that in the short to medium term. Certainly not around the world. The U.K., obviously, we stopped our service through to Heathrow a few years ago. Again, no immediate plans for that to be reinstated. We have a very full schedule with our current network, and the aircraft that we have available to us and the network coming into our fleet over the next few years. So, I think that that is unlikely in the short to medium term.
Have you considered using Rolls-Royce engines instead of Pratt & Whitney, or are they too expensive?
I think we've already got Pratt & Whitney engines-
Why don't we get-
Greg might give us a bit more detail.
Well, yeah, Richard, why don't you answer that? I think, I think the answer is that on the Airbus, you need to be running the Pratt & Whitneys, but can you-
Two different-
Pick that up?
... aircraft types. Yes, so the Rolls-Royce is on the 787, the Trent 1000. The PW1100 is on the A320 and A321neo aircraft, so two completely different engines.
Yeah. Thank you. Right, so that's long haul versus short haul. Okay, thanks. Kim, over to you.
What are your plans to bring Air New Zealand's profit up?
That's a big question. Look, we are very focused on the level of profitability in the company. We're very focused on our operational performance, and we're very focused on all the things that Greg outlined and I reinforced before in terms of our overall Care Most strategy. So, every day, we're working on all of those strands to try and ensure that we optimize the return for all of our shareholders, as is deserved. And, of course, we can't control everything that happens, both in the global economy and our local economy, and other macroeconomic events and shocks. But we are very focused on doing everything we can.
It's a really important focus at the moment around costs, because cost inflation is something that we've highlighted as a really critical issue, and demand, as we look to see what happens to demand over the next wee while. Thanks, Kim.
Are you able to provide an indicator of how far outside the new target liquidity range you currently sit in, and the expected timeline to bring that back into the target range?
Mm-hmm. So just to remind everyone, our new target liquidity range is NZD 1.2 billion-NZD 1.5 billion. We're currently sitting, or at least at year-end results. I'll just... Our CEO and CFO would have indicated to you that we had liquidity in excess of NZD 2 billion at that time. In terms of moving towards our target range, we do have a plan for that. And all I can say is that we're working towards that as quickly as we can in a prudent way over time. We are aware we're outside most of our kind of target ranges within the capital framework, but we expect to get within those ranges, hopefully in the short to medium term. Thanks.
Next question: Is Air New Zealand looking to bring back its retired Boeing 777-200 planes to help boost capacity?
No.
Final question: Considering the worldwide pilot shortage, has Air New Zealand considered operating its own pilot training school?
So, the pilot pipeline and the supply of pilots in the workforce is something that is a key focus area and has been for a while, and something that we actually had a board presentation on. Is, Nikki, would you like to perhaps comment on that? Thank you.
Hi, everyone. Just to give you a little bit more detail on what we're doing with our pilot supply. We've got a team of people working on options to both ensure that we're attracting people into flying as a career, and also giving people pathways into Air New Zealand through our lower-hour pilot pathways. So at the moment, the hours requirement is quite high. So bringing them in with lower hours, facilitating their ability to get their pilot's license through things like scholarships. So all of that is being worked on at the moment, so having a low-hour pilot pathway into Air New Zealand.
Excellent. Thank you, Nikki. Are there any more questions online, Kim?
Just one more that's come through. Has Air New Zealand considered having an electronic menu on screen for economy class menus?
Excellent. Thank you. That, again, is something that's high on the list of customer priorities, and our Chief Commercial Officer, Leanne, if we could just give her a microphone, she'll just give us an update on that.
Thank you. Yes, we have considered it. We have a roadmap of things to put on board the aircraft, including pre-select meals through the IFE and a lot of information on our meal selection and the ingredients. That is being worked on and will be coming very soon.
Excellent. Thank you very much. There you go. Okay, it appears we have no further questions online. I'm just going to check in the room again if there are any questions. Okay, there appear to be none, and that then completes the formal business of the meeting today. Thank you, everyone, for your attendance and participation this afternoon. In conclusion, let me say that your continued support of Air New Zealand is very important and very much appreciated. I formally declare this meeting closed, and we invite you to join us now for light refreshments and afternoon tea. Thank you. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa. I now declare the meeting closed.