KEY POINTS:
Air New Zealand will be flying high with te reo, helping to export the language under a new agreement.
It has entered a memorandum of understanding with the Maori Language Commission under which the commission will provide te reo expertise to the company for its in-flight operations.
International
and domestic flyers will be exposed to Maori, possibly by way of entertainment, greetings or access to phrase books. And both parties hope that economic opportunities can be leveraged off the language.
Maori Language Commission chairman Erima Henare said the language provided a point of difference from all other airlines.
"Those of us who fly regularly will know when you fly on Garuda they speak in Indonesian and English. When you fly on Emirates they speak in Arabic and English, so it's important that the national icon, Air New Zealand, adopts the other national language of the country.
"But what was more important was that companies saw that Maori could be the lingua franca of commerce.
"Te Ohu Kaimoana and companies that look after [Treaty] settlement assets continue to transact business in English and to capture, by way of minute recordings, their meetings in English.
"So hopefully, seeing a company like this engage in promotion of the Maori language will encourage Maori and other like-minded companies to engage with the language and show that it's commercially viable."
The memorandum also fitted with the commission's guiding aim that Maori becomes a language of common use for all, not just for Maori, Mr Henare said.
"Now you can only achieve that if we move beyond the notion that the language is owned by 500,000 Maori who claim descent. We're only kaitiaki. The language belongs to New Zealand and all New Zealanders."
Air NZ deputy CEO Norm Thompson said he couldn't put a dollar figure on how much te reo could be worth. But the value of having international and domestic tourists exposed to the language had to be good for the country.
"At the end of the day, if we can push what our country is about - and Maori culture is a rich part of that - it's another reason for people to come to New Zealand."
TRANSLATION
Tenei a Air New Zealand te hokahoka i ona parirau ki runga o Tawhiri-Matea me te reo i tona taha, hei awhina i te kawenga o te reo ki tawahi, i raro i tetahi kirimana hou.
Kua oti tetahi whakaaetanga te haina tahi me te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Maori, e riro ai ma Te Taura Whiri te kamupene e tohutohu, e arahi, mo te taha ki te reo i ona rererangi katoa me nga whakahaere i te taha.
A nga ra e tu mai nei ka rongo, ka kite hoki nga pahihi o te ao, o Aotearoa hoki i te reo Maori, i etahi wa pea i roto i nga whakangahau, i nga kupu whakamihi, ma te panui ranei i nga pukapuka rerenga korero.
Ko te tumanako o nga ropu e rua kia hua ake he whainga wahi a-ohanga mai i te reo. E ai ki te toihau o Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo, ki a Erima Henare ko te reo tonu te tohu e purero ai te upoko o te kamupene, e rereke ai te ahua i etahi atu rererangi.
"Kei te tino marama era o tatou he auau te rerere haere, ina haere ma te Garuda ka rongo i te reo o Initonihia, me te reo Pakeha. Ka rere ana koe ma runga i a Emirates, ka korero ratou i te reo Arapi me te reo Pakeha, na reira he mea nui kia huri mai ko te waka ihorei o Aotearoa, a Air New Zealand, ki te hapai i tetahi o nga reo whai mana o te motu."
Otiia ko te tino mea nui rawa kia kite mai ai nga kamupene arumoni ka ahei te reo Maori hei reo whakawhitiwhiti korero i waenga i nga mahi kaipakihi, e ai ki a Erima.
"Kawe ai Te Ohu Kaimoana me etahi kamupene tiaki i nga rawa Maori, ara, rawa whakaotinga ki te Karauna, i a ratou kaipakihi i roto i te reo Pakeha, a, tuhia ai a ratou meneti, o a ratou hui, ki te reo Pakeha ke."
"Na reira kia kitea he kamupene penei e whakatairanga ana i te reo Maori, he mea tenei e whakatenatenatia ai nga kamupene Maori, me era atu kamupene whai panga ki te ao Maori kia hapai i te reo, e marama mai ai he reo whai take i te ao kaipakihi."
Ka hangai tonu hoki te whakaaetanga ki te whainga matua o te komihana kia noho ano ko te reo Maori hei reo korero noa mo te katoa, kaua mo te Maori anake.
"Kotahi ano te huarahi e taea ai e piki ake ai te reo ki nga tino taumata, me matua wareware tonu te whakaaro no ngai-uri-Maori anake te reo. He kaitiaki noa iho matou. Ko te reo nei no Aotearoa katoa, no nga tangata katoa o Aotearoa," e ai ki a Erima. I puta te ki a te kaiwhakahaere tuarua o te rererangi a Norm Thompson, kaore ia e kaha ki te tatai i te rahi a-tara o te reo Maori, i raro i te kaupapa nei.
Otira he mea whai hua kia whakaaria te reo ki te hunga tapoi o tawahi, o Aotearoa ano hoki, mo te motu katoa, e ai ki tana.
"Me penei pea taku whakarapopoto ma te whakanui i te iho o to tatou motu ana ko te reo me nga tikanga Maori tona mauri ora - he putake tenei e huri mai ai te tangata ki Aotearoa hei whenua peka mai mo ratou."