Air New Zealand now offers Premium Economy tickets that offer, apart from more leg room, more menu choices at higher quality, similar to the services provided in Business class.

video via Gadling

So if you’re going for a Premium Economy ticket, you’ll have the option of selecting your seat based on the amount of privacy you want. If you’re travelling with your partner, you can opt for a particular type of arragement.

With the new armrests that act as a small table, you can share a meal with the person that accompanies you or play cards. You can order snacks and drinks between meals with the new in flight entertainment screen. The 10.6″ screen offers several applications, programmes complete with recommendation, as well as kid shows.

With the newly added USB ports and iPod connector, you can view photos, music or music from your devices. This feature will also be available in regular Economy class.

Here is a detailed video on how customers will benefit from Air New Zealand’s new seating options.

Air New Zealand is honored “for its superb commitment to safety and operational excellence, typified by the use of Performance Based Navigation cockpit technology at weather and terrain challenged destinations, and for its superb and groundbreaking customer service that combines high-tech, passenger-friendly IT systems with high-touch and caring staff”.

The magazine was also impressed by the airline’s strong role in fighting against environmental challenges, including conducting the world’s first sustainable biofuel flight.

“As most of our international visitors travel to New Zealand by air, it is a huge advantage for a country like New Zealand to be served by an airline that is recognised as offering a top quality service,” said Tim Hunter, CEO for Tourism NZ.

During the same event, Regional Express, another Australian based airline, was named Regional Airline of the Year.

A memorial to 257 dead people was unveiled by Rob Fyfe, Air New Zealand chief executive, on Friday. He tendered apology to those who did not receive the compassion and support from Air New Zealand. It is considered to be the worst peacetime disaster for New Zealand. Fyfe hope that the apology would atone all failures and gaps made by the company.

New Zealand perused the investigation according to which the disaster happened because of the pilot’s error but later it turned out that the airliner’s navigational computers were incorrectly programmed. As a result airline executives were accused of covering up evidence and deceiving investigators.

Fyfe noted that victim families did not get enough support after the disaster, the families received compensations but there were complaints of relatives as they did not have enough communication and emotional support.

According to Wellington’s Dominion-Post newspaper, Jackie Nankervis was 15 when she lost her father and uncle because of the disaster. Her family got only flowers from the airline company immediately after the crash. Generally the police kept in touch with the victim families.

Nankervis said that the apology that was made by Rob Fyfe was the right step in the right direction.

It was decided to mark the actual anniversary by making the flight with five passengers, flight crew and cabin crew in Airbus A320 to New Zealand’s Antarctic outpost Scott Base, then to the crash site on the flank of Mount Erebus for a memorial ceremony.

Messages that were made by victim families would be placed in a capsule at the crash site.