Almost all flights in and out of Auckland on Monday have been cancelled in response to Cyclone Gabrielle.
New Zealand’s busiest airport remains open but the arrivals and departures board has quickly turned red with cancelled flights.
Air New Zealand has made the decision to cancel all domestic flights in and out of Auckland Airport until midday on Tuesday, and cancel all flights to and from Australia on Monday.
Some long-haul flights have also been cancelled with a warning that those operating may need to divert to another airport.
The airline has asked customers to refrain from calling the company as it deals with the chaos.
“We continue to do everything we can to minimise the impact on our schedule, however in preparation for strong fluctuating crosswinds, for the safety of our staff and customers, international arrivals and departures from tomorrow morning through ’til midday Tuesday will be extremely limited,” Air New Zealand chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan said on Sunday.
Captain Morgan added: “Given that the trajectory and strength of Cyclone Gabrielle is fluid, customers should prepare for further flight cancellations.
“Our priority is the safety of our customers, staff and infrastructure and we will only operate flights if it’s safe to do so.”
Jetstar and Qantas also confirmed to news.com.au all flights to and from Auckland Airport on Monday were cancelled due to the impact of the cyclone.
Auckland Airport urged anyone planning to travel over the next two days to watch carefully for updates from their airline or travel agent.
The airport asked people with cancelled or delayed flights to get in touch with airlines directly through online channels rather than visiting the airport to re-book travel.
It said shopping and dining in the terminals would operate as normal.
The latest weather disruptions come just a fortnight after international flights to and from Auckland resumed following major flooding.
Record rain caused parts of the international terminal to turn into a lake on January 27, grounding all flights and leaving travellers stranded.
Auckland Airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui said airport volunteers handed out hot food, snacks and blankets to those who couldn’t find a place to stay overnight.
The main problem this time around was not expected to be flooding, Air NZ chief executive Greg Foran told local media.
“I think what we saw two weeks ago was an extraordinary event. And I think they caught everyone by surprise but you know, I can tell you there’s been a lot of work done over the last two weeks in particular the last five days,” he said.
He said the main problem would be crosswinds and surface water on the runway.
Pilots are worried about the lack of information about surface conditions at the runway, where an Air NZ hit landing lights in monsoon-like conditions on January 27, NZ Herald reported.
The NZ Air Line Pilots Association said the airport does not have the ability to accurately measure the water depth on the runway surface.
“Given pilots are not provided with accurate runway contaminate measurements (at any airport in NZ currently), if rain is falling at the airfield and the runway is being reported as ‘wet’ then NZALPA suggest pilots carefully consider what assumptions they use to determine aircraft performance,” it has warned its members.
Speaking on New Zealand radio station Newstalk ZB, Mr Forgan explained why some long-haul flights were cancelled and others were still due to arrive Monday morning.
“And the reason that we can’t do them all if they do have to divert, you have to work out where you’re going to put them and work out how many hotel rooms you’re going to need. Then you’ve got to work out how you’re going to get those people back from wherever you’ve diverted them,” he said.
“It’s a measured approach and what we try and do here is thread a needle.”
It could take weeks to recover the schedule from flights that had to be diverted while non-stop domestic schedules take a day to restore.
“Sorting out Christchurch is literally a day, other ones if we don’t do anything are upwards of 15 to 20 days,” Mr Foran told ZB.
– with NZ Herald