SAN FRANCISCO – Air New Zealand is delving into the gay and lesbian market with a special themed flight that will feature drag queens, pink cocktails and a cabaret performed by the flight crew.
The destination for the airline's one-time “Pink Flight,” scheduled to depart San Francisco International Airport on Feb. 26, is the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia, one of the world's most well-attended gay events, said Jodi Williams, an Air New Zealand marketing director.
“We are looking at tailoring the in-seat entertainment and having gay-friendly movies and contests and different music and things like that,” Williams said. The airline also plans to throw a “Get-Onboard-Girlfriend” going away party for its passengers, who will pay an average of $1,000 round-trip.
The flight will be modeled after an Auckland-to-Sydney trip Air New Zealand made this year for the gay Mardi Gras, Williams said. Before that flight, the crew put on pink feather boas and sang for its couple of hundred passengers, she said. “Even the pilot was wearing fairy wings and got into it,” Williams said.
Michael Wilke, executive director of a New York-based advertising advocacy group called the Commercial Closet Association, said that while American, Air Canada and other airline companies have become visible sponsors of gay pride events, none had so far used campy programming to appeal to gay and lesbian travelers.
Williams said Air New Zealand still is working out some details of the flight plan, such as what will go inside the goody bags passengers will get.
