Auckland Airport cancels all international flights due to 'extraordinary weather'
Saturday, 28 January 2023
All international flights in and out of Auckland have been cancelled as Air New Zealand is advising those with non-urgent travel between now and Monday to re-book flights after flooding caused “significant flight disruptions”.
Heavy rain and flooding forced the closure of Auckland Airport’s Domestic and International terminals on Friday night.
Auckland Airport had made the decision to delay the reopening of the international arrivals and departures to allow necessary time to ensure the integrity of key operating systems and to carry out safety checks.
There would be no international passenger departures at Auckland Airport until 5am, Sunday 29 January and no international arrivals until 7am.
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Auckland Airport Chief Executive, Carrie Hurihanganui said the significant weather event had tested the airport in a way like never before.
“What we’ve discovered is the flooding overnight has significantly impacted a number of critical components of our airport terminal infrastructure.
“We have been working with urgency today to try and get everything dry, tested and working again, but our assessment is we need more time to make sure it is all working well and more importantly, safely, before we resume international operations.”
She said there would be “lessons to learn out of such a unique event”.
Airlines and Auckland Airport were working with public and private organisations to support stranded passengers.
Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan said the airline’s domestic flights in and out of Auckland resumed from 12pm on Saturday as Auckland Airport re-opened.
“As the airline works to process the backlog of customers and flights, the priority is to get our domestic customers who need to travel urgently to where they need to go. Customers needing to travel can rebook online or via the Air NZ app. Those who don’t have urgent travel are being encouraged to make full use of our flexibility policies,” he said.
The airline is advising those with non-urgent travel between now and Monday, January 30 to make use of the flexibility policy.
Customers can either hold their fare in credit or rebook in the same class of travel between Saturday, January 28 and Monday, February 6 without fare difference, penalty or service fees.
Customers can opt into credit via the Air New Zealand app or website in the Manage Booking tab, by selecting request a credit. They can also use the app or website to change their flights to another date and have their change fee waived, though a fare difference may apply.
Customers who booked through a travel agent or third-party online agent should contact them directly about making changes to their bookings or credit validity.
“Air New Zealand would like to thank customers for their patience and support while it works through these significant disruptions,” Morgan said.
Fiji Airways had also cancelled a number of flights due to the flooding.
A spokesperson for Fiji Airways said the airline would communicate with customers via email about the resumption of flights as soon as it had confirmation that it is safe to do so and when Auckland International Airport opened.
Fiji Airways requests that its guests avoid Auckland and Nadi, Fiji airports at this time due to congestion and to continue checking the airline's website for updates at www.fijiairways.com.
The Auckland region is under a state of local emergency.
Overnight the airline saw 12 international services due into Auckland divert to other ports.
More than 200 passengers due to fly to Sydney at 6.15pm on Friday were kept on a plane overnight, as they had already boarded when the flight was cancelled, with one passenger saying they were kept on the plane until 1.45am.
Advice for customers booked to travel:
The Air New Zealand app is the easiest way for customers to stay up to date with flight details and changes.
Most customers are able to self-serve via the Manage Booking tab on the Air New Zealand website.
Impacted customers will be notified and rebooked to the next best alternative over the next 48 hours.
As the contact centre is experiencing extremely high volumes of calls we ask that only those with travel over the next 24 hours contact us directly.
The airline’s travel alerts page has the most up-to-date information on operating flights - our contact centre team do not have any more information than this.
If you are travelling out of Auckland, please do not travel to the airport until you receive an update that your flight is going ahead.