This initiative reflects a significant win for an offline carrier in the New Zealand market. An opportunity was identified for The Walshe Group to prepare an RFP response on behalf of Etihad Airways for the All of New Zealand Government (AOG) corporate account. The AOG Account is a collective agreement contracting Travel Supplier requirements for over 500 Government departments and associated Agencies nationwide, representing over NZ$200Million in annual airline revenue spend.
TWG coordinated the RFP response to the New Zealand Government and were ultimately responsible for the Etihad Airways submission, liaising with the Airline’s Head Office to collate the necessary information and coordinating pricing and discount offers to be considered by the AOG Procurement panel. The entire submission was over 100 pages and in addition to the airfare pricing proposal, also included responses on aspects of health and safety, sustainability and corporate responsibility, data security, travel specific requirements for special passenger handling, sales support capability and service level reporting
TWG staff then presented the offer to the Ministry of Business and Innovation Procurement Team which resulted in Etihad Airways’ successful selection as one of only eleven airlines appointed to the AOG panel of contracted Domestic and International air suppliers. The proposal accepted by AOG saw Etihad Airways appointed as carrier of choice on routes from New Zealand to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the SASC
This was a significant achievement given Etihad’s ‘offline’ status in the New Zealand market.