More than 20 family and friends and airline and government support teams stood on Canet Beach in southwestern France, only a few hundred metres from where the aircraft crashed into the Mediterranean a week ago.
They also remembered the two German pilots at the controls of the nearly new A320 when it crashed 29 years to the day after New Zealand's worst air tragedy, which killed 257 passengers and crew on Mt Erebus.
The aircraft was coming into land at Perpignan Airport when the crash happened last Thursday (Friday morning, NZT).
At 4.46pm (French time), the time of the accident exactly one week ago, the group held a private ceremony on the shores of the Mediterranean.
The five New Zealanders who died were senior A320 pilot Captain Brian Horrell, 52, engineers Murray White, 37, Michael Gyles, 49, Noel Marsh, 35, and Civil Aviation Authority inspector Jeremy Cook, 58.
Airline chief executive officer Rob Fyfe and Air New Zealand cultural ambassador Andrew Baker spoke in English and Maori, talking about the men and what they meant to those gathered.
Earlier, family and friends of Air New Zealand engineer Michael Gyles and CAA inspector Jeremy Cook visited the accident site on French Coastguard vessels and threw flowers onto the water.
The beach ceremony was an emotional but important time for the group, Mr Fyfe said later.
"For the first time, everyone who has travelled to Perpignan has been able to join together on Canet Beach to remember their loved ones.
"We have all been deeply touched by the support we have received from the local community and have expressed our gratitude to the French authorities for their continued focus on the recovery and investigation efforts." Only three bodies have been found of the seven people on the A320 when it crashed.
All three were badly damaged and DNA tests may produce a positive identification by this weekend, said French authorities.
The aircraft had been leased to a German carrier, XL Airways and was being tested before returning to Air New Zealand.
It had just been repainted in Air New Zealand livery.
Two black box flight recorders had been recovered but were badly damage and had not yet revealed information to explain the crash.
"At this stage of the inquiry, nothing explains why the aircraft left its trajectory and crashed into the sea," said French officials in a statement.
