Admittedly, I’m a fan and somewhat of a collector of airline amenity kits. We’ve done a lot of amenity kit reviews here on Travel Codex, so I was happy to learn about this new eye mask from Air New Zealand. Nearly all amenity kits contain eye masks, but most are pretty basic. This one is certainly unique, both in look and in quality.
New Zealand is one of my favorite places to visit, so being more comfortable on the long flight down under sounds great. Not surprisingly, Air New Zealand already has a cheeky video featuring this new product. If nothing else, enjoy the Kiwi accents:
Air New Zealand and Allbirds collaborate on an eyemask for business class passengers
Air New Zealand and innovative footwear brand Allbirds have joined forces to create the Bird Mask. The Kiwi flag carrier features New Zealand products when available, so this seems like a natural fit. They came up with an intelligently designed eye mask to help customers sleep better and wake up fresh. Like Allbirds’ footwear, the sensationally soft mask is made from sustainable, ZQ-certified New Zealand merino wool and castor bean oil-based foam.
The Bird Mask has molded eye cups, similar to what Qantas offers in their Martin Grant amenity kit for First Class. The Qantas mask was certainly comfortable, and the eye cups did work well. The beak part of the mask looks strange, but is designed to keep light out which is the whole point. Air New Zealand claims to have tested this on board, so hopefully it works as well as they say.
Getting your own Bird Mask
Unfortunately, I didn’t get a sample of the Bird Mask to try for myself. The Bird Mask will be available exclusively in Air New Zealand’s Business Premier cabin on selected North American routes throughout October, including the airline’s daily NZ1/NZ2 service between Los Angeles and London.
I didn’t know much about Allbirds before this, but I may look into their shoes, they sound quite nice. I’m a fan of merino wool products, and I appreciate their sustainability efforts. I guess I’ll have to get on Air New Zealand soon to get my own Bird Mask.
What about you? Have you flown with the Bird Mask?
