Fire breaks out at Wellington airport, smoke seen at departure lounge

Friday, 12 June 2026

Fire and Emergency NZ said they received reports a piece of machinery was on fire after receiving automated alarm at 7.15pm and responded with six appliances.

Flights were temporarily diverted and no-one was reported to be hurt, a spokesperson fro Wellington Airport said.

National MP Tim Costley said passengers remained on planes while emergency services were working.

Smoke could be seen coming from part of the terminal and drifting across the runway area.

Fire and Emergency NZ are investigating how a fire broke out at Wellington Airport on Friday night, causing passengers to evacuate to the tarmac and leaving others stuck on planes.

Flights were temporarily diverted and no-one was reported to be hurt in the incident, a spokesperson for Wellington Airport said just before 9pm on Friday.

One passenger told Stuff smoke was visible in the regional departure lounge.

Wellington Airport confirmed the fire was out in an update shortly before 12am, saying international flights scheduled to arrive later in the night were due to arrive on time.

Do you know more? Get in touch newstips@stuff.co.nz

“FENZ will be investigating the cause of the fire,” a Wellington Airport spokesperson said.

The airport will open as usual on Saturday, but some flow-on disruptions to flights may occur.

“Passengers are advised to check directly with their airlines,” said the spokesperson.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand confirmed there was a fire at Wellington Airport. A shift manager told Stuff they received reports that a piece of machinery was on fire there. Six fire service appliances were present, including two ladder trucks.

What happened?

The main terminal building at Wellington Airport and the southwest pier were evacuated following the triggering of a smoke alarm, Wellington Airport spokesperson Phil Rennie confirmed.

“Flights into Wellington have been temporarily diverted and passengers are advised to check with their airlines for information on specific flights. We will provide further updates tonight as they come to hand,” Rennie said.

Fire and Emergency received and automated alarm at 7.15pm.

National MP Tim Costley was arriving onboard an aircraft when the incident unfolded.

Costley said passengers remained on planes while emergency services worked to bring the situation under control.

Wait until it is safe

“We just sit here and wait until it’s safe for us to get off,” he said.

Costley said he could see multiple fire appliances responding and smoke coming from part of the terminal building.

He said his impression was that conditions inside the terminal were deteriorating.

“The situation inside the terminal is getting worse, not better.”

Kornelia Miles told Stuff they had just landed at the airport and it had been evacuated.

“Heaps of action with emergency services, fire trucks, etc! We have to stay on the plane. Heaps of people standing on tarmac. Yikes.”

Another passenger told Stuff they could smell smoke and had been evacuated to the tarmac.

Video seen by Stuff shows smoke pouring from part of the terminal and drifting across the runway area.

Passenger John Manville said an alarm sounded shortly after 7.15pm with travellers initially told to remain where they were.

A short time later, passengers were directed to evacuate and gather outside the arrivals area.

“We’ve been told now to stand outside the arrivals area,” Manville said.

When he was inside the terminal, Manville said he could see smoke coming from an area near some of the departure gates.

“There was smoke coming out of, I guess, back towards where some of the gates are.”

He said several fire trucks arrived while passengers were still inside the terminal.

“I don’t know, six or seven, maybe more, fire trucks arrived while we were in there.”

Manville said passengers had received little information about the incident and many appeared confused about what was happening.

“I think confused is how we feel. We just haven’t had a lot of information on what’s happening.”

He was due to board a flight to Christchurch when the evacuation occurred.

Naomi Klainbard and her family were also distressed by the lack of information they were receiving about the situation, saying they had been “completely in the dark due to this emergency.”

“The airport staff communicated absolutely nothing to us; they just told us to get out to the parking area, and nobody explained what was happening.

I understand they were trying to resolve the emergency, but it is only fair to give an explanation to the passengers. This does not feel like the proper protocol at all,“ she said.

Klainbard said the chaos has also left them significantly out of pocket.

“We completely lost the money for our accommodation tonight in Christchurch because we couldn't get there, and on top of that, we were forced to pay an extortionate price ($380+) for a basic room at hotel just to get the kids out of the cold.“

We are currently in the room, exhausted, with the airport alarms still blaring through the walls, waiting for a rescheduled flight at 7 AM,“ she told Stuff.

Kate Jansen lives on the Kāpiti Coast and was expecting to catch the 8pm flight to Auckland.

'We were just waiting around, and suddenly the fire alarm started going off.

'We've all been taken out of the terminal and made to go on the other side and have been told we should go upstairs, evidently. We're getting sort of taken to one place and then sent to another place, and but doesn't look like we're going to be going anytime soon, but it's hard to know.'

Jansen said her flight has been cancelled for the night and she was rebooked for Saturday morning.

Smoke coming out of roof

Jansen said, 'It looks like the smoke is coming out of the roof where the Koru lounge is above the regional departures.

“An Air New Zealand person said Gate 17 was most affected, that's the nearest one to the terminal. We really couldn't really smell any smoke or see smoke inside, but it's coming off the roof,' she said.

Celia Jaspers was flying back from Hamilton where she had been at Field Days, she said they landed around 40 minutes ago and were still on the tarmac.

“The fire seems to be getting worse, with large amounts of smoke coming from the terminal. Air NZ crew are keeping everyone informed well but they don’t seem to know much detail at this stage either.

“We are positioned in a random spot away from the terminal but cannot disembark. Passengers are in good spirits so far, apparently it’s very cold outside so we are at least comfortable and warm in the aircraft.

“I can’t see the terminal from my seat, but have seen several fire engines drive around us,” Jaspers said.

Advice for Air New Zealand passengers

Kate Boyer, Air New Zealand’s chief operations officer – ground and inflight, said the airline’s New Zealand flights in and out of Wellington are currently being held until further notice.

“Customers travelling this evening should check the Air New Zealand app for the latest information on their flight. Flexibility has been added for customers booked to travel on flights in and out of Wellington this evening giving them the ability to change their flights free of charge to another time that suits them. Where possible, we encourage customers to self-serve via the app and defer their travel.

Boyer said the airline is working to support customers whose flights have been impacted as quickly as possible.

“The safety of our customers and team is our first priority, and we are following the direction of emergency services and Wellington Airport,” she said.