Air New Zealand has confirmed there will be room for only five relatives of victims of the Erebus air disaster to travel to Antarctica for the 30th anniversary, upsetting some who lost loved ones. The airline was criticised for its proposal to take only five family members when it first announced plans to commemorate New Zealand's worst air disaster. All 257 people on board Air NZ flight TE901 were killed when it slammed into Mt Erebus on November 28, 1979.

The airline said yesterday that after consultation, it had strong support for the small number of family representatives to fill the limited slots available on a United States Air Force C-17 cargo plane, and attend services at Mt Erebus and Scott Base.