U-turn: Air New Zealand flight bound for New York diverts back to Auckland after fire at JFK airport

The Air New Zealand flight was two-thirds the way across the Pacific when it turned around. Photo / Supplied

Air New Zealand’s New York service has hit more problems, this time with power issues at JFK Airport forcing a plane to turn back while over the mid-Pacific this morning.

The flight was two-thirds of the way across the Pacific when it turned around.

New York’s JFK Airport is not accepting flights because of a power problem there and the decision was made to wait out the problem in Auckland, rather than divert to another airport en route where recovering the schedule would be more difficult.

The New York airport reported a “power disruption at Terminal 1,” which handles international flights. It said that “some flights may be arriving and departing from different terminals”.

Air NZ this morning said an electrical fire in Terminal 1 at JFK Airport and the terminal’s subsequent closure forced NZ2 to divert back to Auckland.

“Diverting to another US port would have meant the aircraft would remain on the ground for several days, impacting a number of other scheduled services and customers,” an airline spokeswoman said.

“The flight is now returning to Auckland where customers will be rebooked on the next available service. Our teams are working through that process and will be on hand to help customers with their travel arrangements when they arrive in Auckland.”

The airline apologised for the inconvenience and said it was grateful for customers’ patience and understanding.

CNN said a source familiar with the situation said an overnight fire. later extinguished, cut off power to much of the terminal.

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The New York Port Authority was working to restore power at JFK’s Terminal 1 by working around the circuits impacted by the overnight fire, according to a Port Authority official.

This week an inbound Air New Zealand flight to Auckland from JFK diverted to Rarotonga because of Cyclone Gabrielle and soon after launching last year, the NZ1 flight faced delays and a diversion because of strong headwinds on what is the airline’s longest route.