Covid sends in-flight meals out of the plane at Air New Zealand

After upending global travel, Covid-19 is doing the same to in-flight dining. Passengers at Air New Zealand Ltd. will now only get fed after they’ve disembarked.

The airline wants to make sure passengers keep their masks on for the entire flight, it said in a statement Friday. It will now hand out snacks like cookies and popcorn when people get off their plane to enjoy at their destination, the airline said.

“It’s anticipated that we will soon see the omicron variant within the New Zealand community,” Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty said in the statement. “Masks are one of the key ways to limit transmission.”

The change applies to domestic services from Jan. 1.