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Air New Zealand Paints Their Itty-Bittiest Plane All Black

YES—another all-black plane has taken to the skies. For the third time, Air New Zealand is honoring the country's rugby team—the All Blacks—with an aircraft painted in the team colors, which would be all black (plus a little white and gray to form the fern of the team logo).

The first AirNZ plane to get the treatment was a Airbus A320, then they upgraded to repainting a Boeing 777. This time, however, AirNZ has chosen the smallest of their fleet—a Beech 1900D, newly completed.

Keep a look out for the tiny black plane (and two more upcoming) buzzing its propellers on AirNZ's shorter domestic routes, such as between Blenheim and Christchurch.

[Photo: Air New Zealand]

Volunteer Travel / Sports Travel / Rugby Travel / New Zealand Travel / Voluntourism / Events / → All Tags

How You Can Volunteer at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand

This fall New Zealand is hosting the massive Rugby World Cup 2011, but they need a lot of help to pull it off. Currently NZ is looking for more than 2,000 volunteers for performing and support roles at the Opening Ceremony, which will take place on September 9, 2011.

The ceremony will showcase New Zealand culture, as well as the cultures of the 20 other participating countries. It is expected to draw a crowd of more than 60,000 fans who will be in attendance for first match of the Tournament, between New Zealand and Tonga in Eden Park, as well as a TV audience of millions worldwide.

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Livery / Air New Zealand / Sports Travel / Rugby Travel / Airplanes / → All Tags

Is a Black Airplane Hard to See at Night? Ask Air New Zealand

Look at the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Ninja Plane! Or rather, it's just the newest paintjob from Air New Zealand. The all-black livery isn't just so Air NZ has the slickest plane out there, but it's to honor New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks. The airline is a sponsor of the team, and they're going whole hog with the support this season. In addition to the black paintjob, Air NZ's in-flight safety video all about the team.

The aircraft we call "Ninja Plane" won't fly until January 2011, when the first of Air New Zealand's batch of airplane orders arrives. It'll be an Airbus A320 and sadly it'll be kept to only the domestic New Zealand routes. You'll have to go way down under to spy this baby in the sky.

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Celebrate South African Rugby With Matt Damon In 'Invictus'

Clint Eastwood's soon-to-be-Oscar-nominated film Invictus opens nationwide today. In the movie, Eastwood takes on the daunting task of telling the story of the first few months of Nelson Mandela's South African presidency, including his struggle to get the country's black majority to rally around the nearly all-white Springboks national rugby team, in the hope that it would unite the nation. Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) first made an example of himself by befriending the team's captain, Francois Pienaar (played by Matt Damon). He then cheered along with the rest of the country as the Springboks went on to defeat the New Zealand All Blacks and win the 1995 World Cup.

The Springboks are still a big deal in South Africa and are currently the holders of the Rugby World Cup and the Tri-Nations Championship. Even though it's off-season, the team is taking their trophies on the road. The tour will start in Cape Town on Friday, February 5 and make its way through all 14 provinces with over 116 stops, including 50 schools as well as clubs and shopping centers. You can get a schedule of the tour and ticket information for next season on The Springboks' official website.

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