Here come the Lions - and their 4 tonnes of luggage

Part of the Lions squad board the Qantas A380 at Heathrow. Photo / Supplied

Qantas is doing the heavy lifting for the British and Irish Lions who are bringing four tonnes of bags and gear.

The airline is the official carrier for the Lions and says the tour has already boosted bookings here.

The 41-strong squad plus its coaching, support and management team is airborne now and due to touch down in Auckland at about 12.30pm tomorrow. The Lions' first tour match is on Saturday against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians.

Qantas is the official carrier of the Lions and the entourage will fly to Melbourne aboard an A380 superjumbo and then on another aircraft to New Zealand. The Lions are bringing with them 355 bags and 3990kg of gear in total.

An airline spokeswoman said it was boosting the protein portions on meals served to the Lions and it was prepared for them to be thirsty.

"Every elite athlete knows hydration is key, especially at 40,000ft in the air. That's why Qantas is preparing to serve double the water than what's consumed on a regular flight while the Lions are aboard," she said.

There are about 20,000 supporters expected during the 10-match tour.

"Qantas is seeing a really strong increase in passengers travelling from London on our New Zealand services compared to the same time last year. We're also seeing great support from Australian rugby fans travelling on our Melbourne to Auckland and Sydney to Auckland flights."

With the Australian airline enjoying ''official carrier'' status, Air New Zealand's marketing leverage from the tour has been crimped, resorting to indirectly referring to the tour as it boosts flights.

It said today that in response to the strong customer demand it was putting on extra flights to regional towns and cities such as Whangarei, Rotorua, Dunedin and Christchurch. The Lions play in those centres.

Strong customer interest in the All Blacks and ''New Zealand rugby winter schedules mean Air New Zealand is currently purr-fecting its schedule, adding at least 46 extra domestic flights throughout the country over the coming five weeks,'' said the airline's chief revenue officer Cam Wallace.

"We're not pussyfooting around here. The extra A320, ATR and Q300 services represent an additional 3500 seats over a five-week period,'' he said.

"We're experiencing an influx of visitors to New Zealand between now and the beginning of July as well as increased demand from Kiwi rugby fans wanting to experience the roar of the crowd this winter."

The additional services are between Auckland and Dunedin, Rotorua, Blenheim, Whangarei and Palmerston North and between Wellington and Christchurch, Tauranga and Gisborne.

Air New Zealand is also operating several charter services on the airline's domestic network associated with dates where there will be very high demand, including two flights that will utilise the airline's Boeing 777-200 aircraft.