Air New Zealand is known for it’s long-haul network, spanning to many cities around the Pacific Rim. As expected with long-haul flights, this means plenty of time to enjoy the airline in-flight entertainment. The airline has recently released it’s most popular films and television shows, do any on the list surprise you?
Plenty of time in the sky in 2024
As reported by the New Zealand Herald, Air New Zealand has released the ranks of its most popular television shows and movies watched onboard in 2024. This data covers its short-haul Australia and Pacific Island network alongside its long-haul services.
Photo: danielou_shots | Shutterstock
Seat-back entertainment is only available on trans-Tasman, South Pacific, and long-haul flights with the carrier. Only select domestic flights offer the luxury, and this is usually only when flights are scheduled to reposition aircraft.
For those traveling on domestic jet services with Air New Zealand, a shared screen features the ‘Air New Zealand Inflight Quiz’, which offers answers in both English and Te Reo Maori (the indigenous language of New Zealand).
Related Air New Zealand Buys SAF For Boeing 777-787s at LAX And SFO Air New Zealand has secured its targeted SAF usage in 2025 with substantial supplies in Los Angeles and San Francisco
Get all the latest airline route news right here
The most popular film – The Beekeeper
The most common film watched by passengers onboard Air New Zealand in 2024, was ‘The Beekeeper’, which is described by Rotten Tomatoes as:
In The Beekeeper, one man’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as “Beekeepers”.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, the film is rated 71% on its Tomatometer and 92% on its Popcornmeter, based on over 181 reviews and 2,500 verified ratings. The film was first released on January 12, 2024, and had a production budget of $40 million, of which it earned over $152.7 million at the Box Office.
The Beekeeper was directed by David Ayer and produced by Bill Block, Jason Statham, David Ayer, Chris Long, and Kurt Wimmer. Key stars of the film include:
Jason Statham
Emmy Raver-Lampman
Josh Hutcherson
Bobby Naderi
Phylicia Rashad
Jeremy Irons
Onboard Air New Zealand, the film was a hit and was watched 128,607 times in 2024, over 23,000 more times than the second most popular film, Anyone But You, a romantic comedy that stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell.
These two films alone hit lower numbers than the airline’s most popular films in 2023, which were:
A Man Called Otto (176,000 views) John Wick: Chapter 4 (149,000 views)
Related How Airlines Decide Which Movies Are Shown Onboard Airlines are very sensitive in their choice of in-flight movies depending on the results of the data analysis, trends, and passenger demographics.
Have you heard the Simple Flying podcast recently?
The most popular films and television shows onboard
Onboard Air New Zealand flights, the most popular films for 2024 were:
Rating Film Total views in 2024 1st The Beekeeper 128,607 2nd Anyone But You 104,813 3rd Dune: Part Two 102,663 4th Napoleon 95,909 5th Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 95,318 6th Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes 90,840 7th Mean Girls 89,608 8th The Equalizer 3 84,893 9th The Fall Guy 79,437 10th One Life 78,343
While films are always popular onboard, they are nowhere near as popular as the television shows that aired onboard Air New Zealand flights.
Photo: Brave Behind the Lenz | Shutterstock
Evidence shows plenty of young passengers onboard, with kid’s cartoons Bluey and Peppa Pig hitting the top of the list for the most popular television shows onboard Air New Zealand. The airline’s most popular television shows for 2024 were:
Rating Television show Total views in 2024 1st Bluey 510,919 2nd Peppa Pig 259,336 3rd The Big Bang Theory 238,069 4th Friends 178,202 5th Paw Patrol 152,461 6th Young Sheldon 131,604 7th Game of Thrones 94,542 8th Louis Theroux Interviews 89,856 9th Piri’s Tiki Tours 84,992 10th The Simpsons 83,787
Air New Zealand is the flag carrier for the South Pacific nation of New Zealand. Its base is at Auckland International Airport (AKL), with secondary hubs at Wellington (WLG) and Christchurch (CHC). The airline operates nine gateways in Australia and five destinations in the United States (New York, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu). Chicago is set to resume the airline’s network later in 2025.