Air New Zealand helps man with secret stag-do plot

A man was kidnapped, blindfolded with a tie and led onto an international Air New Zealand flight, where the crew kept the destination a secret, as part of an elaborate stag do.

Johnny, a Melbourne man living in Auckland, posted a video of the antics he had planned for his friend on Tiktok. In a video, a man is sitting in a window seat, his eyes covered by what appears to be a work tie, while a crew member makes an announcement.

“I usually would say where we’re going however, we have one gentleman on board for his stag do,” they said, adding that his friends had managed to get him through the airport without revealing the destination.

“I believe he has no idea where we’re going,” they said. For passengers who wanted to check they were on the correct flight, they suggested checking with a fellow passenger.

During the announcement, the man laughs along, at one point covering his face with his hands. “You’re kidding!” he exclaims, seemingly unable to believe what his friends have pulled off.

In the comments, Johnny revealed the destination wasn’t the only secret; the man hadn’t even known they were flying somewhere.

“I got his fiancee to pack his clothes and passport the night before. Got his Dad to pretend he wanted him to go collect a cousin from the airport,” he wrote.

The flight was bound for Melbourne, Johnny’s hometown.

Hundreds of viewers left comments on the video, many praising Air New Zealand for participating in the ruse and others asking how Johnny kept the destination a secret.

In the comments, Johnny said he blindfolded his friend and took his phone off him after allowing him to make two final calls - one to his fiancee and the other to his boss.

After going through customs, they waited away from the departure gate and had ground staff call them over for boarding before anyone else, so they didn’t hear the destination being called out.

The crew then snuck them onto the plane before business class, Johnny claimed.

Compared to most stag do celebrations, this is relatively elaborate; something Johnny said was a talent of his.

He had written across the bottom of the clip: “I think the only reason people keep me around is because I’m good at organising stag doos” [sic].