Applause as direct transtasman flight takes off
A man buried in his book of crosswords, a boy with Spider-Man headphones pressed up against the window, a woman with a pre-emptive fake tan.
Holiday-goers, opportunists, children dragged along for the ride — the usual impatience is in the air.
But as bums fill seats in the terminal, anticipation begins to swell.
John Denver's Leaving, On a Jet Plane and other air travel balladry set the tone.
Suit trousers wait next to sweatpants.
Two women sip bubbles from wine glasses, one swinging her leg back and forth.
Others are in less of a celebratory mood — one passenger slumps cross-armed in her seat, eyes shut tight and mouth agape in a snore.
Two aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicles creating a water arch — an aviation tradition — draws eyes away from the smartphones and towards the terminal windows.
Gazing out the window at the tarmac in a Jetstar-branded cap is retired Dunedin school teacher Peter Humphrey.
"I didn't realise until today it was actually the first flight," he tells me.
"I'd bought my tickets months ago. I had no idea."
He only gets across the Ditch, where he has family, about every seven or eight years and is grateful the route has returned.
"It'll mean that if I win the lottery I can go over much more... it's a connection to my family which is very, very important."
The inaugural flight is but one first for Ben Calder and Ruby Walton.
It is their first big trip together as a couple.
"Originally we were just going to do a road trip across New Zealand, but then we saw that it was cheap as to go to Gold Coast, and we were like why not?," Ben says.
As the call for boarding is made, a passenger wearing a beanie with a pom-pom seems to have not cottoned-on to the weather awaiting her on the other side.
A bloke in shorts has the right idea — or perhaps that is just the southern man's regular winter attire.
Sitting towards the front of the packed aircraft is Dunedin teenager Benjamin Paterson, who is congratulated by the captain over the intercom for his 25,000-signature petition to get international flights back.
Those aboard this first international voyage applaud the teen's efforts.
One wait is over, and another begins.
"Please sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight."
tim.scott@odt.co.nz
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