Kiwis are proving anything but flightless, by flocking to obtain new 10-year passports for overseas holidays this summer.
The Department of Internal Affairs says demand for passports is more than 60 per cent higher than normal for December, with 31,372 applications having been received since the beginning of the month.
That was when 10-year passports became available for the first time since 2005, when New Zealand introduced five-year documents in response to security concerns sparked by the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
An expectation that other countries would do likewise did not bear out and Parliament passed a law in October with support from all political parties to restore the longer time frame, having received a 12,000-signature petition last year calling for the move.
Internal Affairs deputy chief Maria Robertson says the number of passport applications received by the department had dropped in anticipation of the introduction of the new documents, which cost $180 for adults and $105 for children. That compares with $150 and $80 respectively for five-year passports, after fee rises early last month.
