Kind Of Like “Before Sunrise” But On A Plane

Well, not exactly, but New Zealand Air’s new “Matchmaking Flight,” a match.com-like site/flight, allows potential lovebirds to act out their various courting rituals and find a potential mate online during the summer (how 21st century!). This is followed by an October 13th, pre-game party at LAX where the newly acquainted can get loaded up on drinks, then load onto a plane for a grueling, sure-to-be-awkward, 12 1/2-hour trans-Pacific flight from L.A. to Auckland.

Because what’s more romantic than plane travel? Have you seen yourself when you get off the plane after an overnight flight? Is that really a recipe for long-term love? And what if it doesn’t work out, are you able to opt-out of the return flight? Wouldn’t that make for a lonely trip home? And what about the pilots, are they in on this too, because I’d like to think they’re concentrating on flying? Is there a speed-dating option too, where you switch seats every 10 minutes? And what about movie options, because my last flight forced me to watch “Mamma Mia” twice, and I refuse to get near any plane that does that to me again? Just a few questions that popped into my head.

Posted on May 19, 2009 by Matt Stabile