Watch: Air New Zealand Transforms Plane Into Hobbit Dragon

TravelPulse senior writer Jim Ruggia told you last week about how New Zealand tourism is preparing for the release of the new blockbuster "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug".

A survey by TNZ found that last year's Tolkien inspired marketing activity increased the interest in New Zealand of 82 percent of the survey's respondents. Between January and March this year some 8.5 percent of visitors cited The Hobbit Trilogy as a factor in stimulating their interest in New Zealand and 1 percent said it was the most important factor.

Now, watch as New Zealand Airlines takes the movie tie-in to new heights (literally) by transforming their plane into Smaug himself.

The movie is scheduled to land at Los Angeles International Airport in time for the movie's red-carpet premiere, Monday night at L.A.'s Dolby Theatre.

This was the fans' first chance to see the full rendering of Smaug, as director Peter Jackson only revealed the dragon's eye in the first movie.

This previous video released shows the unveiling of the plane to the pilots and crew that will fly it.

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