Confusion over Auckland Airport status causes chaos for overseas passengers
Sunday, 29 January 2023
The Auckland floods are causing confusion and lengthy delays for passengers from around the world with one airline initially advising customers the airport would be closed for a month.
Wellington couple Martin and Bee Laing say they are frustrated at the muddled communications they have been receiving from German airline Lufthansa, who in turn are blaming Auckland Airport for poor communications.
The couple had been on a five-week holiday in California and Europe for their 20th anniversary and were supposed to be flying home on Lufthansa from Frankfurt via Singapore to Auckland.
However, forty minutes before their flight was due to the leave, the couple were told by Lufthansa staff that the Singapore to Auckland leg was cancelled.
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The passengers affected chose to fly the first leg to Singapore but when they reached the boarding gate they were denied entry and told Auckland Airport would be closed for a month, the couple said.
They said they were then accommodated in a hotel overnight without their luggage, only to find the luggage unattended at the airport the next morning – next to a bag collection carousel.
The Laings said Lufthansa staff still maintained Auckland Airport would be closed for a month at the ticketing desk and sent passengers to Heathrow Airport in London.
An Auckland Airport spokesperson said at no time did the airport advise passengers or the global airline industry that the airline would be closed for a month.
She said they had been in “constant communication” with their airline partners via a global system, Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) where they had released immediate and accurate notification of any disruption or impactful changes to normal services.
A series of NOTAMs were issued from 6pm on Friday advising airlines of a closure to the runway, initially due to damage to runway lights caused by an arriving aircraft before flooding at the terminal required a full closure until midnight Friday.
The spokesperson said they then advised the runway closure to international passenger aircraft would be extended to midday Saturday later that evening. It was further extended to 4.30am on Sunday.
“Any advice that Auckland Airport will be closed for a month was not based on information provided by Auckland Airport,” she said.
When the Laings landed in London they learned the original Lufthansa flight from Singapore to Auckland they were booked on, had flown, and would land at 11.27am on Sunday morning, two hours later than its initial slot.
A frustrated Laing said Lufthansa staff at London were empathetic and informed them that “Auckland Airport had not been very informative of the situation”.
The couple will now fly into Christchurch three days later than their initial plans.
In Los Angeles Airport, Erin Blake and several hundred Air New Zealand passengers on flight NZ3 to Auckland have been stranded after their flight was cancelled. Blake and other passengers went back to the airport on Sunday morning as per advice from Air New Zealand employees but found no one was there to meet them.
Passengers also haven’t been able to get through to the Air New Zealand help desk on the phone, with some people holding for up to nine hours.
Despite the long wait for information, Blake said spirits were good and “songs were flowing”.
Air New Zealand’s chief operational integrity and safety officer, Captain David Morgan, said the airline’s international arrivals into and departures out of Auckland were on track to resume from noon on Sunday.
“As the airline works to process the backlog of customers and flights, the priority is to get customers who have been disrupted since the closure of the airport on flights as soon as we can.”
Morgan said they knew it hadn't been an easy process for customers with long wait times to the Air New Zealand call centre. Yesterday the airline had over 31,500 calls compared to 4600 the previous Saturday.
“But out team are doing their best.”
To help customers self-serve, the airline has added further capability to the manage booking function allowing customers booked on an Air New Zealand service the ability to rebook their cancelled international flight over the next 20 days – an extension of 10 days due to limited capacity.
On Sunday Air New Zealand will have 13 flights departing and 15 flights arriving into Auckland International Airport.
The airline is advising those with non-urgent travel between now and January 30 to make use of its flexibility policy.
Twenty international flights have been cancelled on Saturday and Sunday from Melbourne, Shanghai, Rarotonga, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Dallas-Fort Worth, Tokyo, Seoul, San Francisco, Taipei and Sydney.
Civil Defence and Red Cross brought supplies for people who had to sleep in the terminal on Saturday evening.
An airport spokesperson said there were no diverted flights expected in today.
Lufthansa has been approached for comment.